Operation Red Nose looking for volunteers for upcoming campaign

With Christmas party season fast approaching, Operation Red Nose is preparing to drive Kamloops residents and their vehicles home after a night of festivities.

“PacificSport Interior BC, the host of Operation Red Nose, is thrilled to be back in full force this year as last year we were dealing with a number of COVID-19 restrictions,” said Carolynn Boomer, executive director and founder of Kamloops Operation Red Nose.

The designated driver service is still looking for volunteers to ensure everyone has a safe ride home.

Those looking to volunteer are encouraged to team up with friends to form three-person road teams for four to six hour shifts.

This year, Operation Red Nose hopes to recruit 250 volunteers to fill positions including designated driver, escort driver, navigator, phone operator and dispatcher.

This years campaign will run Nov. 25, Nov. 26, Dec. 1 to Dec. 3, Dec. 8 to Dec. 10, Dec. 15 to Dec. 17, Dec. 22, Dec. 23 and Dec. 29 to Dec. 31 — from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. each night.

According to RCMP Cpl. Dana Napier, while the campaign is fun and raises money for a good cause, it also ensure no one gets behind the wheel after one too many eggnogs.

“One stat that can't be captured is the number of lives that have been saved. We never know what work we do in prevention and what benefit we're making in the community here,” Napier said.

“Those are things that we can't capture in terms of knowing when someone's made that decision to make a phone call to get that safe ride home.”

The service will be available by donation, benefiting PacificSport Interior BC.

“Our vision for PacificSport is that healthy communities are inspired and enabled to play, participate and perform through sport and that's at all levels,” Boomer said.

“We have provided almost $312,000 to athletes to attend national championships over the years.”

Volunteers can commit to as many shifts as they like from one to all 16 nights, all they need to do is fill out an application form available online or at the Tournament Capital Centre.

To use the service, revellers can download the Operation Red Nose app or call 250-320-0650.