Mayo has raised a staggering €35,252 which will go towards the rollout of the Irish Cancer Society’s Care to Drive service. Care to Drive is a volunteer driving service for cancer patients. These funds from Mayo locals were raised after year one of Tesco’s two year charity partnership with the Irish Cancer Society, which overall has raised €950,000 across the country.
Tesco staff and customers from Mayo showed their support for the Care to Drive service by hosting a range of innovative fundraising activities which helped to contribute to the overall amount of €950,000 been raised.
Commenting on the announcement, John McCormack, CEO, Irish Cancer Society said: “Transport to and from treatment can cause undue stress to cancer patients and their families. Our Care to Drive service, which has had an enormous uptake, can help alleviate some of the stress associated with travelling to appointments.
“Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the dedicated team and staff from Tesco stores across Mayo, the funds raised through our charity partnership will allow us to further our services in Dublin and expand into the midlands, Kildare, Sligo and Letterkenny. Within the next year we hope to roll out to a further six hospitals across the country.”
Cancer, its prevention, diagnosis and treatment are a major challenge for society. Approximately 30,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer in Ireland in 2011 and cancer will affect one in three people in Ireland during their lifetime. It is estimated that by 2020 over 40,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed each year.
