Odometer can’t measure volunteer driver’s impact

By Jackie Valley

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Paul Stanley drove 4,000 miles last year out of pure goodwill, chauffeuring Las Vegans in need of rides.

His destinations weren’t glitzy casinos or posh resorts. They were hospitals and doctors’ offices. His passengers were elderly residents, many who live alone, who no longer can drive themselves.

For almost four years, Stanley, 64, has been a volunteer driver for Helping Hands of Vegas Valley, a nonprofit organization that helps local senior citizens.

The inspiration to volunteer came years earlier when Stanley’s mother-in-law, who lived with him and his wife, needed frequent rides to chemotherapy appointments. Even with two family members available to help, it was a juggling act.

How did elderly people without family nearby cope? Stanley vowed to find a way to help when he retired as an elementary school music teacher.

“There are lots of people who move here attracted by the retirement spiel,” he said. “And then they get stuck. They don’t have family here.”

Driving his red Fiat 500 Pop, Stanley helps picks up the slack, shuttling the seniors — many in their 70s and 80s — to medical appointments and, occasionally, the grocery store. They talk about their children, where they grew up and how long they’ve lived in Las Vegas. Stanley listens.

“Many of them are lonely, so if you’re an ear they can talk to, they are happy to get some human contact,” he said.

Volunteers pay for their own gas. Stanley never has calculated how much money he has spent on fuel, mostly because it doesn’t matter. He plans to continue driving those in need three or four times a week as long as he lives here.

Last year, he gave 273 rides.

The people who occupy his passenger seat, including a cheerful 98-year-old woman bound and determined to attend her exercise classes, keep Stanley driving.