File Image (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Adam Donnelly

HOLIDAY CHEER

Operation Red Nose kicks off its 2022 campaign in Kamloops

Nov 8, 2022 | 4:18 PM

KAMLOOPS — After two years of interrupted service due to pandemic restrictions, Operation Red Nose returns in all its glory for 2022.

Tuesday morning (Nov. 8), organizers of the holiday designated driving service held the annual kickoff to the annual campaign.

“Twenty-six years, I still can’t believe it. It just blows my mind,” Carolynn Boomer, founder of Operation Red Nose told those gathered at the kickoff event.

For the better part of three decades, Operation Red Nose has helped make sure holiday revellers get home safe from the pub, as well as Christmas parties big and small. This year, it’s back in full force, offering 16 nights of service.

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“Operation Red Nose kicks off on Friday, November 25, and we’ll operate every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through December, from 8:00 pm until 2:00 am,” Elsa Poppleton, coordinator for the service explains.

Those 16 nights represent the second-most that Operation Red Nose will have covered in Kamloops. The service ran over 18 nights in 2017, which just happens to be the best year in the program’s history.

“You’ve got, generally, more than one person in the car,” Boomer says. “Our largest number of rides we’ve done was in 2017, with 1,383 safe rides home, but then you can double or triple that.”

According to Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Dana Napier, there’s an important intangible that goes along with all those numbers that come from Red Nose each year.

“How many rides we’ve had, how many years we’ve been doing it, how much money has been raised, how many athletes have been supported,” Cpl. Napier says. “There’s one stat that can’t be captured, and that’s the number of lives that have been saved.”

With 16 nights of service that kick off at the end of November, Operation Red Nose is in need of a huge stable of volunteers.

“The more volunteers that we have, the more rides we can give, which means the more money we raise,” Poppleton says. “That’s the heart of Operation Red Nose. We really need those volunteers and the community to come in and support the campaign.”

As always, Operation Red Nose will raise funds for PacificSport BC Interior. That money will help fund opportunities for local athletes and coaches for travel and development.

You can visit the Pacific Sport BC Interior website for more information on how to volunteer.