Professor John Matthews is spearheading efforts to provide financial support for lung cancer patients in need.

This stems from a promise he made to his mother, Kathleen Matthews, when she was diagnosed with the disease.

“I just promised my mom when she was sick that I was going to do something,” said Matthews, whose mother died from lung cancer in 2011.

“There was a lot that my family and I learned when my mom was sick and one thing that surprised me is that it’s the number one cancer killer in the world.”

Six years later, he embarked on cross-country bike ride from Newtown Square, Pennsylvania to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to raise money and awareness. In 2019 he and a group of volunteers launched Ride Hard Breathe Easy, a nonprofit organization that helps patients deal with the financial stress of having lung cancer.

Almost all of the organization’s work is done by volunteers. Their efforts coincide with an old Irish saying that Matthews mother often used at home, “many hands make light work.”

“These words are our rallying cry,” Matthews said.

Funds raised by RHBE are donated to eight hospitals including Temple University Hospital, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Crozer Medical Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Duke Cancer Institute, Jefferson Health, John Hopkins Hospital and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Social workers at these hospitals identify patients that need assistance in paying a bill, transportation to a medical appointment or for food.

“What I’ve learned over the last couple of years is that you have patients who are literally deciding, ‘Do I pay my utility bill, or do I get the food that I need to stay healthy?’,” said Matthews, an adjunct professor with the Klein College of Communication.

RHBE hosts bike rides, golf outings and other fundraising events throughout the year. The organization is preparing for its 8th annual Ride Hard Breathe Easy Classic,  a 425-mile, five-day event. The ride, held from Sept. 1-5, starts at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and ends at Conshohocken Brewery in Conshohocken, Pa. Riders will cycle through Philadelphia, Pa.; Margate, N.J.; Harrington, Del.; Baltimore, Md.; Christiana, Del. and Conshohocken, Pa.

As a Fox Chase Cancer Center social worker, Lisa Etkins has seen the direct effect of RHBE’s fundraising efforts.

For the last four years, Etkins’ patients have motivated her to raise funds for RHBE by participating in a Peloton distance event called Pelofondo.  She and some friends rode 100 miles on their Pelotons in April and raised more than $13,000.

“It was very motivating knowing that my patients were benefiting and that I could think about all the things that they go through every day,” Etkins said of the experience. “They struggle daily, and I was just doing one day of a long bike ride.”

She says it's clear that some patients don’t speak up about their financial challenges as they deal with juggling their regular bills with their medical expenses.

 “Patients sometimes struggle but will not share because they are embarrassed,” Etkins said. “But when you start building rapport with patients and talking about what’s going on, you find out that they’re getting all these bills and things are starting to get overwhelming. With Ride Hard, we’re able to help offset those costs and stressors.”

To date, RHBE has raised $900,000 and served almost 2,000 people. Matthews has ambitious goals for the organization.

“I have an ambition that by the year 2030 we will be raising $1 million a year, we’ll be working with 30 hospitals and help 5,000 people a year,” he said. “We’re on our way and I feel confident that we can get there.”

While working to raise funds, Matthews also highlights the importance of people undergoing screenings which could lead to lung cancer being detected earlier.

This comes as the American Lung Association reports that only 6% of people who are eligible get screened nationally.

The U.S. Preventive Task Force recommends annual lung screening, which is a low dose computed tomography scan for high-risk individuals, which is defined as individuals between ages 50 and 80 who are either current smokers who have smoked a pack-a-day for over 20 years or previous smokers who have quit within the past 15 years.

Matthews supports efforts of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative (ALCSI) which focuses on increasing community awareness of lung cancer and the importance of lung cancer screening for high-risk individuals. There are over 50 college student chapters of the ALCSI whose members encourage community members eligible to be screened for lung cancer.

Matthews is working with a group of Temple students to form a student chapter of the ALCSI.

“If I can guide, mentor and coach so that they develop a plan to create their goals, their mission and their purpose and what they want to do to make it successful, that would make me happy,” Matthews says of starting a student chapter at Temple.