Parker’s stores have donated $10,000 in gas cards to Memorial Health Foundation to help defray the cost for patients and their families to travel to Memorial University Medical Center for chemotherapy, radiation treatment or neonatal care.
The gas card donation is part of the company’s Fueling the Community program, which also supports area schools.
“Because of the Anderson Cancer Institute’s outstanding reputation and because Memorial is the only Children’s Hospital in a 31-county region, many patients travel for hours to get medical care,” said CEO Greg Parker. “As a result, fuel is a major economic challenge.”
Through the Memorial Health Foundation, fragile families and individuals in need can find help, thanks to donations to Patient Assistance Funds, which focus mostly on cancer patients and families with sick children. Donations to Patient Assistance Funds are distributed according to strict guidelines and managed by Memorial’s social workers and case workers, ensuring that individuals and families with the greatest need get help.
“These gas cards allow patients to focus on healing,” said Parker, “not on whether they can afford gas to get back and forth to treatment.”