ChemoCars service gives free rides—and a fighting chance—to cancer patients
ChemoCars is a service in metro Charlotte offering free rides to cancer patients getting treatment. It’s Zach Bolster’s brainchild and passion.
“Cancer can be scary and feel uncontrollable,” Bolster said. “We want to take this one piece of the process, transportation, and make it simple so they can focus on what matters most—getting better.”
Bolster’s mother, Gloria, had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He quit his job on Wall Street and moved to Charlotte to drive her to doctors’ appointments and chemo sessions. Bolster noticed that many patients, often older and lower-income, missed treatments because they had no reliable ride.
“It was heartbreaking and unfair to see that some people didn’t have the exact same shot at beating cancer as others,” Bolster said.
In December 2016, Bolster’s mother died. Bolster launched ChemoCars, which coordinates with Uber and Lyft. Donors pay for the rides.