Travel can be challenging, especially if your day job is protecting America and you’re living on a remote military base in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
29PSP wants to help. 29PSP is a volunteer-run service that provides rides from the base to airports for active duty marines and their families. The group’s Chief Development officer Sherman Tam explains:
“We provide complimentary transportation for active military members and their loved ones on leave between the Marine Corps Air Ground Compbat Center in Twentynine Palms and Ontario and Palm Springs Airport.”
Why is it important to provide these rides?
“The active military don’t get paid a lot. A lot of them are new recruits, between 18 and 21 years old. They are just through basic training, and it can be a stressful time. Some of them have never left home before and now they are out on their own, having to book travel for themselves.
“What we try to do is to help them out so they can focus on training, deployment. Some of them have families. And things are expensive.
“We have approximately 20 volunteer drivers, who use their own cars. We’re there for them also as emotional support.
“They are so, so appreciative. We’ve had some of the parents make donations on behalf of their sons or daughters who have received rides. We’ve received cards to thank us for just being there. A lot of this is beyond the financial side. Our drivers are there to listen. If they need advice, as they consider what they might want to do, where they may want to travel.”
29PSP was born out of similar service, SOS Rides, that had the exact same mission statement. Sherman says that SOS Rides abruptly ended it’s operation in 2023, and several of the volunteers got together to continue the work, creating 29PSP in the process. The group is celebrating their first anniversary in May, and will be participating in the first “Bigger Together” non-profit expo on April 2 at the Palm Springs Surf Club.
“We have given almost 752 rides. Some of them were family members, children. We’re very proud of that. We have rougly 20 active volunteer drivers. We need a lot more! We see demand increasing about 20% every month.
“Our biggest need right now is more volunteers. It’s been a challenge for our volunteers to keep up with the demand.”
If you need a ride, or want to volunteer, visit https://www.29-psp.org/
