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Drive a senior around with help from Modo

Volunteering to drive a Burnaby senior to a doctor’s appointment or to the grocery store recently got a whole lot easier thanks to a new partnership with Modo.
Modo
Modo, a Vancouver-based ride sharing co-operative, is making it easier for Burnaby residents to volunteer and drive seniors around.

Volunteering to drive a Burnaby senior to a doctor’s appointment or to the grocery store recently got a whole lot easier thanks to a new partnership with Modo.

Burnaby Community Services has teamed up with the car-sharing company as part of the Seniors on the Move program, which works to increase transportation options for Metro Vancouver’s aging population.

The non-profit organization has opened up a business account with the member-owned co-op, so anyone looking to volunteer their time to drive a senior from point A to point B can do so at no cost.

“You want to tap into volunteers. It’s hard enough to find volunteers as it is,” said Selena McLachlan, Modo’s director of marketing and business development. “When you put another piece of criteria in, which is you need to own your own car, it becomes a bit of a barrier. Then there are also people who may own their own car, but they’re worried about liability.”

Anyone who is at least 19 years of age, has their N licence and zero at-fault accidents in the last two years can become a Modo member. The $10 registration fee will be waived for all applications made under the Burnaby Community Services account.

McLachlan said Modo, which was founded in 1997 in Vancouver’s West End and has a membership of 17,000 drivers from the Lower Mainland and Victoria, has a diverse car fleet that is very adaptable to seniors’ needs.

“In addition to the compacts, hatchbacks, we have passenger vans, we have SUVs, we even have an accessibility van for wheelchairs,” she explained. “Sometimes the seniors that are being transported, they don’t necessarily need a wheelchair van, but maybe they’ve got walkers, maybe they have things that require more room.”

Even though it’s too early to say whether memberships within this initiative have gone up, McLachlan said the response to the program on social media has been “very, very positive.”

“People (are) saying, ‘Wow, this is fantastic. You’re removing a pretty significant barrier for people who’d like to volunteer,’” she said.

To learn more and to sign up, call Vicki Goundry at 604-292-3901.