{"id":135585,"date":"2026-01-28T22:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/135585\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T22:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:57:14","slug":"tampa-volunteers-who-transport-cancer-patients-get-once-in-a-lifetime-stanley-cup-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/135585\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa volunteers who transport cancer patients get once-in-a-lifetime Stanley Cup surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Two Tampa Bay<\/a> volunteers who spend their time helping cancer <\/a>patients get to critical medical appointments got a surprise of a lifetime when the Stanley Cup rode along with them.<\/p>\n

Paul Ross and Shana Taylor-Page volunteer with the American Cancer Society\u2019s Road to Recovery program, which provides free transportation for patients who are unable to drive themselves to treatments and appointments.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Their routine day behind the wheel took an unexpected turn when the NHL <\/a>Players Association, in town for the Stadium Series, honored them with a visit from hockey\u2019s most iconic trophy.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Will it snow in Tampa? Rare ‘Gulf-effect’ setup could bring flakes this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

“Let me tell you, being surprised when it pulled up today was \u2014 that was pretty crazy,” Ross said.<\/p>\n

For Ross and Taylor-Page, the moment was a thank you for the quiet work they do every day.<\/p>\n

“Their stress, their life has been turned upside down,” Ross said, describing the patients they transport.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Road to Recovery drivers help cancer patients during some of their most difficult moments. Ross says the impact of a simple ride can be profound.<\/p>\n

“I drove someone and found out when I picked them up that they were going to ring the bell. There\u2019s a lot of people who don\u2019t get that chance,” Ross said.<\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

Ross says volunteering is personal for him after seeing cancer affect his own family.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve had my father pass away from prostate cancer, and a sister who is a 10-year survivor of breast cancer,” Ross said.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

The American Cancer Society says the need for volunteer drivers in Tampa Bay is constant and growing.<\/p>\n

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“Whether it is once a day, once a week, once [a] month, we truly rely on those volunteers,” Lindsey Langley-Liboreiro, senior executive director of the American Cancer Society, said.<\/p>\n

But the organization says it does not have enough drivers to meet demand.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“Right now, [more than] 50% of the rides that are requested we\u2019re not able to fulfill,” Langley-Liboreiro said.<\/p>\n

Taylor-Page hopes others will see how flexible volunteering can be.<\/p>\n

“You can do it on your way to work, you can do it [on] your lunch break, you can do from home,” Taylor-Page said.<\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

The American Cancer Society says there are currently 65 volunteer drivers in Tampa Bay\u2019s Road to Recovery program, but many more are needed.<\/p>\n

The organization has fulfilled more than 1,100 ride requests, but says about 2,700 requests have had to be turned down because no drivers were available.<\/p>\n

Those interested in volunteering can find more information here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story came from interviews with Road to Recovery volunteers and the American Cancer Society.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>NHL<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Two Tampa Bay volunteers who spend their time helping cancer patients get to critical medical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,629,115,5691,135,137,136,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-135585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-fl","9":"tag-hillsborough","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-tampa","13":"tag-tampa-headlines","14":"tag-tampa-news","15":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}