CFJC File Photo

By Curtis Goodrum

OPERATION RED NOSE

Operation Red Nose hitting gas pedal for upcoming season

Nov 6, 2025 | 5:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — Operation Red Nose is gearing up for its 29th season. The event is part of a fundraiser for Pacific Sport Interior BC, which helps support youth sports programs across the province.

The organization calculates it has helped more than 60,000 people get home safely since Operation Red Nose began.

“What’s really special about this program is it’s a way for you to help solve the problem of keeping impaired drivers off the road. We have a lot of volunteers who like to volunteer because they use the service themselves and this is their way of giving back to what they’ve been able to benefit from. It’s just a really fun time,” said Lucas Sweet, the program coordinator for Operation Red Nose.

As well as helping youth sports, the volunteers help their neighbours get home safely around the holidays, preventing impaired driving.

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“We do know impaired driving remains one of the top three causes of crashes across the province. Unfortunately, about 62 individuals provincially annually lose their lives as a result of impaired driving collisions. We [ICBC] would like to bring this number down to zero because these are preventable collisions,” said Ingrid Brakop, the road safety and community coordinator with ICBC.

The Kamloops Sports Council believe volunteers drove more than 1,000 people home safely last year and hopes that number only goes up.

“We had 434 rides last year. This year would be great to get to that 500 mark, but at the end of the day, we want to give as many rides as we can,” added Sweet. “That’s directly linked to how many volunteers we can get.”

Volunteers are still needed. The event runs from November 28 until December 31 every Friday and Saturday from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Those interested can sign up before or during the five weeks.