The holidays are coming up which means Operation Red Nose is looking for volunteers for their safe ride home services. 

Operation Red Nose is a ride service that operates during the holidays, and they will drop off both you and your vehicle at your house free of charge. 

Jo-Anne Dalton with Operation Red Nose says this is so people get home safely, and don’t need to arrange to get their vehicle the next day.  

“Often times people don't want to leave their vehicle behind, and so maybe that contributes to driving when you shouldn't. Maybe you're a little too tired, maybe you've celebrated a little too hard, the weather is not great, maybe you're just not confident on the road.”  

The first rides available are on November 24th and 25th, and will keep going every Friday and Saturday in December along with New Year’s Eve. 

The program depends heavily on volunteers. 

You can sign up as an individual, as a family, or with friends or coworkers. 

“We have lots of workplaces who commit a full evening, and they set their teams, they get everything going, and then our team is on-site to make sure everybody has the training for what they're doing that night.” 

Dalton says it’s a lot of fun wherever you choose to help out, whether it’s driving or dispatch. 

“I've done it, I think it's been nine years now in a row, and we have a great time. I'm with a different team every year and you meet new people, you spend a pile of hours in a vehicle with someone, you learn what each other's music likes are, senses of humor, it's a really great way to meet people.” 

Another way that people can get involved is sponsorship. 

If local businesses want to get involved they can donate employees time or make a monetary donation to help Operation Red Nose run. 

She says they need all kinds of sponsors, and there are many different ways you can be a sponsor. 

“If you're a business who is a restaurant and you want to provide a night of meals for our volunteers, that's super appreciated.” 

On the flip side, if you are looking to get a safe ride home, Dalton says all you need to do is call. 

“All you need to do is call our number on our rides night, we're going to show up, we're going to take you home.” 

This is a free service, but they also collect donations to help the causes in the community. 

This year’s donations are being raised to help the school expansion at École Saint-Joachim. 

She says Ecole Saint-Joachim is a huge supporter of Operation Red Nose in our region.  

“École Saint-Joachim is in the middle of construction, and so all the extras that they needed that are not funded will be funded partially by this program.” 

Cash donations go directly towards supporting the event and towards their project this year. 

If you are thinking about volunteering, she encourages you to get in touch. 

“We are currently recruiting for all of our ride nights, so if you're looking at your calendar and you have an open night, put in a team, talk to your workplace about filling an entire night, or just sign up as an individual because we'll hook you up with people. It's a great way to get to know people and have a good time.” 

If you want to volunteer or find out more, visit their website here. 

 

With files from Dave Anthony and Corny Rempel 

 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, SteinbachOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the SteinbachOnline app.