The streets of Cold Lake were safer than ever this holiday season, thanks to Operation Red Nose.
“It was our best year ever,” exclaimed Dave Zimmerman, Cold Lake Victim Services Unit (VSU) program manager. “We had the most rides in one season, we had the most rides in one night, the most donations we've ever had, and the most volunteers.”
Starting Nov. 25, 2016, and running Fridays and Saturdays until New Year's Eve, Operation Red Nose Cold Lake gave party-goers a lift after a night of fun. In their 12 nights of service, volunteers drove over 5,000 kilometres to give 333 safe rides home for people and their vehicles – well surpassing last year's 203 rides.
“I think (the service) has a huge impact. I believe that even if its not Operation Red Nose, they see the advertising and they know that there's always an alternative choice to drinking and driving,” said Zimmerman, who explained that the stats also back up the fact that they are making a difference with the initiative.
“In 2014, we had 30 impaired driving-related incidents in Cold Lake. Then we started really advertising strongly with grant money from the Alberta Traffic Safety Fund through Facebook, our web page, and other outlets.”
By 2015, that number had been cut down by over 50 per cent, with just 12 impaired driving-related incidents that year. According to Zimmerman they continued to see a decrease, getting down to only seven incidents in 2016.
“It's something I'm very proud of.”
Originally started in Quebec 33 years ago, Operation Red Nose sends out teams of three volunteers to get people and their vehicles home safely over the holidays. One person serves as the driver, one as the navigator, and a third brings the patron's vehicle to their house.
Cst. Jody Mattinson introduced the program to Cold Lake six years ago, after he had volunteered for Operation Red Nose out east prior to becoming a member of the RCMP.
Cold Lake is one of only three communities in Alberta to offer the service, along with Fort Saskatchewan and Lethbridge.
Although the ride is free, donations are collected for the local VSU. This year's Operation Red Nose raised close to $7,500 from grateful patrons, money that will be put towards resources and services for children and youth victims of crime or tragedy.
“It goes towards grief and loss material, educational material, to pay for gas for parents or guardians to go to specialized counseling services, or Zebra centres, which is a place where people report sexual assaults,” explained Zimmerman. “It also pays for my volunteer advocates to get specialized training for working with children. It's a very important aspect of our programming.”
Of course, the local service wouldn't be successful without the dedication of the 159 volunteers who gave up their nights to get others home safely, 17 per cent more than last year.
To all the volunteers and community sponsors, Zimmerman said he can't thank them enough for playing a role in Operation Red Nose Cold Lake's best year yet.