Volunteer organization once again preparing to get you home safe

“Anytime you want to reach out during one of our nights of service on Friday or Saturday over the next four weeks, just give a call at 250-962-RIDE (7433). We’ve got a whole group of people who will be answering the calls and then dispatching someone out to come with a team to take you and your car home,” added fellow Co-Chair Garth Frizzell.

This year the program begins on November 28, and will run every Friday and Saturday up to December 21, as well as New Year’s Eve. Last year the program saw 422 rides given by more than 120 volunteers, and its a service that the volunteer drivers are happy to provide to keep you and the community safe.

“These are snowy roads. People are out having a good time, and when you’re driving them back, they know and you know that they needed some help, and they wanted to have their fun,” Frizzell said.

Frizzell says the program can be lifesaving in some cases, as he’s personally witnessed moments where had he, or a fellow Operation Red Nose driver, not have been behind the wheel, some situations could have been disastrous.

“Just in the last year in my own experience driving a group home, a car that was coming in the opposite direction went out of control, and you have to be up on your defensive driving. You have to be paying attention, whether you’ve had a good time or not, a driver has to pay attention, especially in Northern B.C. during the winter. If that driver had been trying to get home on their own, I can’t see how they could have made it,” Frizzell said.

Prince George RCMP add they do see increased cases of impaired driving during the holiday party season, further highlighting why you should plan for a safe way home.

“It is that time of extra parties, maybe a little bit earlier because we’re doing them right after work perhaps, or maybe we’re not as sober as we think we are the next morning when we get up and start driving to work again. So we always have our police officers out keeping an eye out after key holiday times, especially over the weekend. But really, we find impaired drivers throughout the day, throughout the week,” said Prince George RCMP Corporal Jennifer Cooper.

Operation Red Nose is a donation based service, and all donations go straight into supporting the community.

“The donations go to youth programs here in Prince George. Everything from helping Kodiaks football, to helmets for the Spruce Kings, to RCMP Youth Academy,” Frizzell said.

“I belong to the Nechako Rotary Club, and our motto is service above self. We’ve been doing this for 27 years through the club, and it’s just part of the community work that we do,” Hilton added.

Hilton adds the group’s top priority is getting you home safe, so even if you don’t have money for a donation, Operation Red Nose is happy to drive you home for free. They take cash donations, or donations through its website.

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by Tommy Osborne

Volunteer organization once again preparing to get you home safe

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