Operation Red Nose Winnipeg 'in desperate need' of volunteers for New Year's Eve

A program that offers safe rides home in Winnipeg during the holiday season desperately needs volunteers for New Year's Eve.

Operation Red Nose — a free service that aims to curb impaired driving by having volunteer drivers pick up Winnipeggers and take them home in their own vehicle — has 10 teams of the 30 it needs for New Year's Eve, according to volunteer media liaison Elisha Dacey.

"We are short about 60 volunteers for New Year's Eve, which is our busiest night, historically," Dacey told CBC News on Monday.

Each team comprises three people: two drivers and a navigator, she said.

"We need teams of three, but you don't have to have a team of three ready," she said.

"We are looking specifically for people who can be in our drive teams — that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be a driver — but we do need people who are willing to be part of the teams to go out and pick people up."

Operation Red Nose, which has been running in Winnipeg since Manta Swim Club brought the program to the city in 1995, gave between 300 and 400 rides on New Year's Eve last year, Dacey says.

"We will drive people past Winnipeg city limits to a certain extent," she said. "And if not, then we will meet up with other Operation Red Nose chapters so that people can get home safe."

The program has struggled to attract volunteers in recent years, which Dacey says is an issue hitting most charities.

"It's always hard to get people to come out," she said. "But whenever we've put out a plea before, Winnipeg has always stood up."

Those interested can sign up on the program's website.