Operation Red Nose will be on the road again this holiday season. This will be the ninth year that Athletics has run the service, which provides people in the community with a safe ride home in their own vehicle.
Operation Red Nose has provided more than 1,000 safe rides home per year for the past three years.
You can get a safe ride home through the Operation Red Nose service by calling 320-4155.
The service is available to the public from 9:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. every Friday and Saturday in December, as well as Dec. 18 and New Year's Eve, December 31.
Donations for U of L Athletic teams are accepted. To date, Operation Red Nose has raised more than $125,000.
"Last year we raised about $20,000," says Athletics Manager Sandy Slavin. "All of the money goes directly back to the teams. They use that money for program enhancement."
For example, Pronghorn teams may use the money to fund exhibition games, pay for a team trainer or purchase team jackets.
Slavin expects that it will take about 600 volunteers for Operation Red Nose to have another successful season this year. Some volunteers take the phone calls from clients and dispatch drivers, but most work in three-person driving teams that consist of a designated driver, a navigator and an escort driver.
Groups of three can volunteer as a driving team, while individual volunteers will be assigned to a team. For more information on volunteering, please contact Slavin at 329-2681.
The designated driver, who must be at least 21 years of age and have a driver's licence, drives the clients' vehicles with the clients in the vehicle. The navigator, who must be 18, does the paperwork and accompanies
the designated driver when they pick up clients and drive them home.
"The escort driver drives their own vehicle," says Slavin. "Theyıre the ones that take the navigator and the designated driver to wherever they're picking the client up. Then they follow the designated driver in the client's vehicle, so they can take the rest of the team back to headquarters or to the next trip." Escort drivers must also be at least 21 years of age.
There are typically eight to 20 driving teams working most nights, but up to 40 teams are needed on New Year's Eve. In past years, 50 per cent of the volunteers have been student athletes and the other 50 per cent have been
community members.
"Our volunteers have to fill out an application form, and we have to submit that to the police. It takes about a weekıs time from receiving their application before we can schedule them to work," says Slavin.
The headquarters and phone service for Operation Red Nose are provided by the City of Lethbridge, while A W C Communications donates the two-way radios that allow all of the driving teams to stay in touch.
Operation Red Nose has provided more than 1,000 safe rides home per year for the past three years.
You can get a safe ride home through the Operation Red Nose service by calling 320-4155.
The service is available to the public from 9:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. every Friday and Saturday in December, as well as Dec. 18 and New Year's Eve, December 31.
Donations for U of L Athletic teams are accepted. To date, Operation Red Nose has raised more than $125,000.
"Last year we raised about $20,000," says Athletics Manager Sandy Slavin. "All of the money goes directly back to the teams. They use that money for program enhancement."
For example, Pronghorn teams may use the money to fund exhibition games, pay for a team trainer or purchase team jackets.
Slavin expects that it will take about 600 volunteers for Operation Red Nose to have another successful season this year. Some volunteers take the phone calls from clients and dispatch drivers, but most work in three-person driving teams that consist of a designated driver, a navigator and an escort driver.
Groups of three can volunteer as a driving team, while individual volunteers will be assigned to a team. For more information on volunteering, please contact Slavin at 329-2681.
The designated driver, who must be at least 21 years of age and have a driver's licence, drives the clients' vehicles with the clients in the vehicle. The navigator, who must be 18, does the paperwork and accompanies
the designated driver when they pick up clients and drive them home.
"The escort driver drives their own vehicle," says Slavin. "Theyıre the ones that take the navigator and the designated driver to wherever they're picking the client up. Then they follow the designated driver in the client's vehicle, so they can take the rest of the team back to headquarters or to the next trip." Escort drivers must also be at least 21 years of age.
There are typically eight to 20 driving teams working most nights, but up to 40 teams are needed on New Year's Eve. In past years, 50 per cent of the volunteers have been student athletes and the other 50 per cent have been
community members.
"Our volunteers have to fill out an application form, and we have to submit that to the police. It takes about a weekıs time from receiving their application before we can schedule them to work," says Slavin.
The headquarters and phone service for Operation Red Nose are provided by the City of Lethbridge, while A W C Communications donates the two-way radios that allow all of the driving teams to stay in touch.