Proud To Help Our Community
MileOne is honored to have received the 2020 Healthcare Heroes Award for our work tied to the American Cancer Society in our local communities.
We are proud to be recognized by The Daily Record as a 2020 Health Care Hero for its commitment to the communities it serves through our longstanding partnership with the American Cancer Society, Maryland (ACS).
“At MileOne, our connection to the community is paramount, and we are proud to support the many organizations and agencies that are focused on improving the lives of those who live and work in the Baltimore metropolitan area,” said Steve Fader, MileOne Autogroup CEO. “We’re honored to be recognized by The Daily Record for our long-term partnership with the American Cancer Society.”
The Daily Record's Health Care Heroes Awards honor organizations and individuals who have made an impact on the quality of health care within Maryland. MileOne was selected as a recipient in the Community Outreach/Education category for its commitment to the community through support and education. Winners of the Health Care Hero Award program were selected by an outside panel of health care experts.
"Our Health Care Heroes are often described as miracle workers for making a positive impact on lives and creating change," said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, publisher of The Daily Record. "The individuals and organizations being honored are truly outstanding for their work with patients, families, the industry and our community. We at The Daily Record salute their accomplishments."
MileOne Autogroup has been a partner of ACS for more than 20 years and have raised more than $3.8 million for the organization through various fundraising activities including an annual raffle in which MileOne donates a brand-new vehicle to the winner. In recent years, we have focused our fundraising efforts on supporting access to care and free transportation to treatment for cancer patients in Maryland. MileOne Autogroup's Travel to Treatment program, developed in 2018, complements ACS’s Road to Recovery program, in which volunteer drivers use their own vehicles to transport cancer patients to treatment. When a volunteer is not available, Travel to Treatment provides a free ride through a ridesharing partner. During 2019 in the Baltimore area, the Travel to Treatment program provided 969 patients with a total of 5,209 free rides traveling 45,527 miles. A similar number of rides were funded in 2018, and the program is expected to grow in 2020.
In addition to fundraising, MileOne hosts monthly dinners at ACS’s Baltimore Hope Lodge for approximately 30-50 patients and caregivers, freeing them up from the stress of preparing a meal at the end of a long day's treatment. We have also donated two patient transportation vans to The Hope Lodge in Baltimore so that patients have free door-to-door rides from Hope Lodge to their treatment hospitals. MileOne has funded several Day of Hope days at Baltimore Hope Lodge, which cover operational costs for that day.
Our commitment to the community goes beyond that of its partnership with ACS. Believing transportation is transformational, MileOne has been a key supporter of Vehicles for Change, a Halethorpe-based nonprofit that refurbishes donated cars and provides them at low cost to needy families. More than 125 vehicles have gone to families to help them secure or maintain employment, go to school and provide them access to medical care. As an adjunct, MileOne established the 501c3 Wheels for Change, providing relief to organizations struggling with transportation issues including the Baltimore County Public Library and University of Maryland Baltimore, and CHAI at Weinberg Village.
In the last few weeks, our organization has donated $40,000 to local nonprofits including the Y in Central Maryland, Moveable Feast and Boys & Girls Club of Metro Baltimore along with 10 ventilators to Johns Hopkins Hospital to assist with COVID-19 relief efforts. And, over the years, MileOne has donated more than $1 million to employees and their children as part of its NextMile educational scholarship program.