Operation Red Nose this year was impressive. 

That's according to Operation Red Nose Spokesperson Mariette Kirouac. She says the whole year went by fast, and the last night of their holiday season was impressive. “We were hoping to have 50 volunteers for New Year's Eve and we ended up recruiting 69. We are so grateful for how the region comes together, the support was incredible and the way the clients greeted us when they saw us at parties, events, and at bars, it was open arms. ORN is making it easier and easier for us to be volunteers for such a great initiative.”

Our 190 local Operation Red Nose volunteers were able to raise $5,437.81, by providing a total of 249 rides during the 2015 holiday season. “On New Year's Eve alone, we raised $1,652.86 which is an increase from our first year where we raised $951 on New Year's Eve. We covered over 3,000 kilometers, had 17 teams, 3 phone lines and 5 dispatchers that were kept busy til about 4am on New Year's Day.”

Kirouac says the money raised from ORN donations will go towards the Ecole St. Joachim school's phase three of their green park project adjoining the school park and the La Broquerie arena. 

"We were able to see that people from previous years are volunteering again because they had so much fun. We are very confident that we will find more volunteers next year because the new volunteers we had this year were very excited about it, and said they would love to come back. Seeing how our numbers are growing like they are, I think it's really important to let people know that we will really need more volunteers next year for sure. As this keeps growing, contribute, make a difference and have fun doing it."

To keep things fun and interesting, Kirouac says the teams choose their own team names. "I can't remember all of them, but some of the team names were: The Unger-Takers, because they had a mortician on their team, Froot Loops, Stranger Danger, Breathalyzer, The Smitty's Girls, Mellow Yellow, Fantastic Four, and Joe 2000. We use all kinds of languages and codes to make the evening more entertaining."

Over the nine evenings that ORN ran in during the holiday season in Manitoba, they raised a total of $80,140.36. They provided 3,949 rides and had 2,204 volunteers to make ORN a success in 2015. 

Operation Red Nose is a free, volunteer-run designated driver service that operates during the holiday season. They've been operating in Manitoba for 21 years, with the goal of reducing the impact of impaired drivers during the holiday season. Donations received are greatly appreciated and support local Manitoba youth organizations. MPI has a long history as the founding sponsor of ORN. They are committed to reducing alcohol related collisions, deaths and injuries. 


Read More:
Operation Red Nose Breaks Local Records
Operation Red Nose Volunteers Have Fun
Two Million Safe Rides Home
Operation Red Nose Starts With A Bang
Operation Red Nose Is Ready For New Year's Eve
Successful Opening Weekend For Operation Red Nose