Non-profit charities in B.C. affected by gas prices

Bob Smith spends a lot of his time in a car.

He is the president and one of 530 drivers for the Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society (VCDS).

“We pick up the patient, drive them to their treatment, wait for them and bring them home,” he said.

But over the last few weeks, it has been hard not to notice that his spending is going up.

“This issue of gas prices is a major concern. It is a concern for our volunteers, many of whom are retired and they’re on fixed income, like me, Smith explained.

“Without question, when these gas prices go up, our volunteers start asking, ‘ What are you going to do about it. This past week, we increased our reimbursement rate from 52 cents a km to 55 cents, and every cent of increase for us is about $12,000.”

This will bring them down by $36,000 already this year, a challenge for a non-profit that runs on donations.

This poses the question: If groups like VCDS suffer a big loss because of gas prices, what will the soaring cost of gas do to the donors’ abilities to give to charities?

“I still try to do the best I can. If I have money for gas, I try to give when I can. I’d make a lot of cuts before donations,” said one Lower Mainland resident.

“If I spend more money on gas prices, I will not be able to pay for charities or do more good deeds,” said another.

Smith says that with the way things are looking now, it is hard to say what even next month could look like for the group.

“It’s a challenge, we are very concerned, we are also very reliant on a number of our volunteers who donate their expenses back to us,” he said.

Gas prices have been increasing across the globe because of the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major gateway for oil and gas exports.