Operation Rednose seeks New Year's Eve volunteer drivers

A holiday ride service aimed at people who imbibe too much to drive home safely is looking for more volunteers for New Year's Eve, its busiest night of the year.

Operation Rednose, which operates in eight provinces across Canada, has chapters in 25 B.C. communities and provided more than 7,600 rides in 2014.

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The service provides rides home to people who've had too much to drink to drive home. Users can call the service up to two hours in advance and a team of three people will take them home. Two people take the user home in a volunteer's car and a third person drives the user's car home.

Chris Wilson, who runs the chapter covering Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities area, said the organization still needs New Year's Eve drivers.

"It's a lot of fun," Wilson said. "It's extremely rewarding. Not only are you meeting a variety of people, not only are you making sure that people get home safely, but you're also helping raise money for local charities."

Right now, Wilson's branch in suburban Vancouver has about 23 teams set to go for New Year's Eve. It needs about 34 teams.

"It's the busiest night," he said. "The demand is very concentrated. We have the most rides in the shortest period of time."

Donations go to charities

Wilson said the service's main benefit is that is keeps roads safe.

"As people adapt to the new realities of the drinking and driving laws, they realize that there is no reason to take a chance anymore," Wilson said.

Although the ride service is free, users are asked to donate. Last year, the service raised nearly $200,000 in B.C.

The average donation is about $35, but earlier this month a woman gave $1,300 and a group of four men gave $100 each for their respective rides home, Wilson said.

Donations received in the chapter Wilson leads go to KidSport, a charity that raises money to cover sports registration fees for families that can't afford it.

Interested volunteers should come forward today or tomorrow because drivers must first pass a criminal record check, Wilson said. Application forms are available at operationrednose.com

The service is not available in Vancouver.