Operation Red Nose preparing to drive people, cars home safe

With the holiday season fast approaching, many more people will be searching for a safe ride home.

For the ninth straight year in Saskatchewan, Operation Red Nose designated drivers will be out on weekends driving both people and their vehicles home safely.

This year in Regina, the donation-based service has expanded to Grand Coulee, among other areas outside the city — including White City, Pilot Butte and surrounding farms.

“We want to provide safe rides home, and we know a lot people from those areas come into the city and we want to get them home safe — and their vehicle,” said Kinsmen Club volunteer Tracy Carroll.

In order to call for a designated driver, Carroll added that all people need is a licensed, drivable vehicle.

“We’ll even stop for gas for you. If you want munchies on the way home, we’ll stop with you,” she explained. “It’s your vehicle that we’re just driving for you.”

Carroll said the Kinsmen Club is looking for four kinds of volunteers — one to drive the person’s vehicle home, another to navigate in the passenger seat, a third to drive behind in their own vehicle and a fourth to monitor the phone lines.

The service will also be available in Saskatoon, The Battlefords, Prince Albert and Yorkton.

Operation Red Nose kicks off Nov. 24 and runs every weekend until New Year’s Eve.