The 2017 holiday season marked another busy year for Operation Red Nose.
The holiday transportation service gave out nearly as many rides as it did in 2016, providing 273 rides for holiday revelers with one extra night added to the service’s calendar.
Last year, Red Nose drivers and volunteers provided 280 rides in what was the service’s busiest season to date.
“We were hoping we’d get an increase, but some nights we had less rides,” said Ted Hewitt, Red Nose chair.
“Last year was a big jump over the year before,” he said.
Red Nose drivers accept donations for the service. Donations go toward youth activities in the Flin Flon and Creighton area, including organized sports programs.
Hewitt said $4,400 was brought in through donations to the service.
“Every year is an unknown. It varies with the weather, events, a lot of things,” said Hewitt.
He said interest from youth organizations has been slow but is likely to pick up as the year passes.
“We’ll get requests over the next 12 months.”
Area businesses and community organizations will often sponsor a night of driving for Red Nose. Hewitt said all 11 nights of driving were sponsored this year, with drivers coming from volunteers from businesses and the Rotary Club.
“There’s three to four teams. We’re talking about three people per team, so there’s about 12-15 people on an average night,” said Hewitt.
“About 75 per cent of our volunteers are from organizations and groups and 25 per cent are from somewhere else in the community. We always have Rotarians there, every night.”
