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Larry and Susan Lange are project coordinators for Ride for a Cure
By ROB ALWAY
mcp.com editor
LUDINGTON — Every weekday, the Mason County chapter of the American Cancer Society’s Ride for a Cure van transports six to eight cancer patients to Muskegon.
The van leaves at noon and is back by 3 p.m.
Road to Recovery began almost three years ago as a result of many years of fund raising through Relay for Life.
“The program was started as a response to a need for transportation from Ludington to Muskegon and Grand Rapids,” said Larry Lange, who along with his wife, Susan, coordinates Ride for a Cure.
“Most of the patients go to Johnson Family Center for Cancer Care at Mercy Health Partners in Muskegon,” Lange said. “Our passengers arrive around 1 p.m. and are moved right up to the front of the line and they are usually done within 45 minutes and the van then heads back to Ludington. The folks in Muskegon are great to work with.”
Road to Recovery includes 20 volunteer drivers. Over the last 2 1/2 years, the van has logged over 260,000 patient miles, which is calculated by multiplying the number of miles by number of patients.
Lange said over the past few months the eight passenger van has been full everyday. “It holds eight people but is a lot more comfortable with six,” he said.
For that reason, the cancer society is going to temporarily borrow a 14-passenger van owned by Path of Life Ministries.
http://www.cancer.org
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