Rides, donations up this year for safe ride home program

The coffers of a non-profit group that helps kids who wouldn’t normally be able to participate in organized sports just got a boost thanks to Operation Red Nose.

The safe ride home program, which provides rides by donation to people who’ve had too much to drink or are too tired to drive home during the holiday season, collected about $5,300 more than last year during it’s 2014 holiday campaign, according to a media release from the organization.

This year, volunteers with the program, which services Burnaby as well as New Westminster and the Tri-Cities, collected $32,940 in donations compared to $27,600 in 2013. That’s an increase of 19 per cent and organizers couldn’t be more pleased, the release stated.

“I think there’s better awareness of the program, how it works and that the donations go to KidSport,” program coordinator Chris Wilson said in the release. “The community has been very supportive of KidSport over the years so when they get a chance to support it, they’re pretty generous. We also provided rides for a number of Christmas parties and many of the companies were very generous too.”

With sponsors covering Operation Red Nose’s operating costs, all the money donated will go directly to KidSport chapters in Burnaby, New West and the Tri-Cities, allowing about 150 kids in need the chance to play organized sports this season, the release stated.

“We had great support from Metropolis at Metrotown and the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver, so all our costs and more were covered by sponsorship. This ensures that 100 per cent of client donations to go to KidSport,” Wilson said in the release. 

Volunteers provided safe rides home every weekend leading up to Christmas, from Nov. 28 to Christmas and including New Year’s Eve, the program’s busiest night. During that time, more than 1,000 rides were given – up from 936 in 2013, according to the release.

On New Year’s Eve, more than 100 volunteers turned out for the busy night and 180 rides were given, the release added.

“We’ve been very lucky to have been able to recruit so many volunteers specifically for New Year’s over the last number of years. This year we had 159 people volunteer just for New Year’s Eve…that’s pretty phenomenal and in general, the volunteers have been absolutely amazing. We had 275 volunteers this year,” Wilson said in the release.

The Burnaby, New Westminster and Tri-Cities Operation Red Nose program is the third largest chapter in the province and the largest in Metro Vancouver.

Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to email [email protected] for more information.