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No Operation Red Nose for 91原创, Surrey this holiday season

It鈥檚 the second year of no local pick-up service
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Rudy helped out at an RCMP check stop in 2019 in 91原创 to promote Operation Red Nose. (Michelle Cowan/Special to the 91原创 Advance Times)

There will be no Operation Red Nose (ORN) in 91原创 or Surrey this year, according to an announcement from the non-profit鈥檚 national office.

The pay-by-donation service uses volunteer drivers to pick up people who have had too much to drink at holiday parties, restaurants, and pubs around Christmas, New Year鈥檚 Eve, and weekends close to the holidays.

Two volunteers are dispatched, one to take the callers home, and the other drives their car home.

But this year, that service will only be available in Burnaby, new Westminster, and the Tri-Cities area in the Lower Mainland. In the Interior, Kamloops will have a service running.

It鈥檚 been a bumpy ride for the holiday driving and drop-off program in 91原创 over the past few years.

From 1998 to 2016, 91原创 Gymnastics Foundation ran the service in 91原创 and Surrey. They marshalled a small army of volunteer drivers every year, along with organizing vehicle dispatch across a geographically large region.

The following two years saw no service in 91原创 and Surrey, as there were no other organizations able to take up the significant challenge of both organizing the event and fielding so many volunteers.

In 2019, 91原创 Minor Hockey Association (LMHA) took up the reins.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled the entire program nationwide in 2020, a year when most holiday gatherings indoors were banned in any event.

The 91原创 Advance Times has reached out to LMHA to see if the organization plans to take up the project again in 2022.

READ ALSO: Operation Red Nose cancellation no surprise to 91原创 operators

B.C. is still under a mix of restrictions on gathering sizes as the delta variant of the coronavirus has driven up the number of infections and hospitalizations since late summer.

ORN has it roots in sporting organizations; Laval University swim coach Jean-Marie De Konick was inspired by a local radio program that claimed more than 50 per cent of fatal crashes were caused by motorists who had consumed alcohol at the time.

After learning that many bar patrons didn鈥檛 want to leave their vehicle behind and take a cab home, he came up with the idea for ORN and enlisted his team of 25 swimmers to drive motorists home in their own vehicles.


Have a story tip? Email: matthew.claxton@langleyadvancetimes.com
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Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in 91原创, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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