Operation Red Nose volunteers have hung up their trademark red vests until next year.
Operation Red Nose is a service that drives impaired party-goers and their passengers home during the holidays. It was available this year between November 29 and December 31. In some cities, operations were suspended on a few nights due to snow and the cold.
A mathematics professor, Jean-Marie de Koninck, launched the program 30 years ago in Quebec city and it now runs in 106 communities, in six Canadian provinces.
The service has grown so popular that dispatch centres have at times had to temporarily take the phone off the hook until they were able to respond to more requests, a few minutes later. Wait times could reach 20 minutes in some parts.
Quebec spokesperson Chris Wilson put out a call for more volunteers just days before New Year’s Eve to be sure to meet the demand.
In December, Operation Red Nose hit a milestone, passing the one-millionth volunteer mark.
It gave 87 761 rides across the country last year. Figures for the past month won’t be available until Friday, but national spokesperson David Latouche says there wasn’t a marked increase or decrease in the number of revellers Operation Red Nose brought home safe and sound.
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