By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
When it comes to fighting cancer in Castle Country, no one has to fight the battle alone. One service that looks to offset the cost of travel for cancer treatment is Active Re-Entry’s PERKIE Travels. The organization’s continuous dedication to serving the community has earned it the nod for Castle Country Radio’s March charity of the month.
Running for over 30 years, the program first started in 1994, where, according to the program’s website,” Lisa Perla-Martinez was driving her Aunt Perkie to Utah Valley on a daily basis for radiation treatments, and noticed how many people from the Carbon and Emery County area were also making the 180-mile drive. She came back to ARECIL’s office and stated that some type of coordination of rides might be looked at to help people get to their treatments.”
This led to the creation of PERKIE Travels, which currently transports patients to radiation treatments in hospitals across the Wasatch Front.
Program Coordinator Derek Jensen joined the KOAL Newsroom to discuss the program and its goal of aiding the community.
“Our big goal is to help people from the Castle Country area, whether that Emery County or Carbon County, get up and get the treatments they need for their cancer without having to worry about financial duties, having to get loved ones or other community members involved because it’s a lot of rides, it’s a lot of work,” said Jensen of the program’s mission. “And so that’s our goal is to minimize that burden on the person.”
To achieve this mission, Jensen explained what services PERKIE Travels offers: ” We run the PERKIE Travels van five days a week, as needed, of course, up to Timpanogos Hospital, Utah Valley, and Revere. We do radiation treatments only due to the time constraints, but we’re consistent. All the hospitals know all about us. So it’s a great service if you need transportation.”
Jensen then discussed what it means to him to participate in the PERKIE Travels program: ” It’s definitely emotional. Being able to meet with people who truly need the help, because we don’t have any transportation that goes up those places. I feel completely privileged to serve the community the way I have been, and I’ve been very appreciative that people come in afterward and speak with our director and let them know how good a job we do.”
As a charity, PERKIE Travels is looking for donations to help fund its critical program. “PERKIE Travels solely relies on donations. These donations help not only PERKIE Travels but all of our programming at the center because we help people with disabilities throughout the community. And then, if you want to become a backup driver for PERKIE Travels, we’re always looking for great backup drivers to help with the cause.”
For those who need the service, Jensen explained,” The first thing I’ll have them do, if their radiation therapist or the hospital up there hasn’t talked to them about it, I would start there to get the time set up, and then give me a call at Active Re-Entry. That’s 435-637-4950, and we can set up a time to meet up to get you set up with PERKIE Travels.
In closing, Jensen shared,” If you need the help, please reach out. We’re always going up, and we want to make sure that everyone in the community’s taken care of for their radiation needs.”
For more information on PERKIE Travels, call 435-637-4950. Active Re-Entry offers a full list of programs on its website.