For 18 years, holiday revelers in Sudbury have called on Operation Red Nose to provide them with a way to get their vehicle — and themselves — home safely after a night of drinks.
During peak “celebration” times — think Christmas, New Years, St. Patrick's Day — the volunteer-driven organization can be called on to send someone (sober) to drive you and your car home anywhere in the city.
And it will continue to provide that service — but under a new name.
The organization has broken away from the national Operation Red Nose network and has re-branded itself as Safe Ride Home Sudbury, which president Lesli Green bills as a “made-in-Sudbury organization” that will allow for “greater flexibility and autonomy” when it comes to tailoring the program for the community.
The announcement was made Aug. 10 at Cambrian Ford, which has been the organization's vehicle partner for over a decade.
“When it's a local group, we can meet the needs of the community because we live here,” Green said. “We're still going to be ensuring that Sudburians are getting home safely and prevent impaired driving.”
The organization, as Operation Red Nose — and now as Safe Ride Home Sudbury — has historically worked closely with the Greater Sudbury Police Service; a partnership that Deputy Chief Al Lekun said will continue.
“The name has changed but the leader is the same,” Lekun said. “Lesli's been a great leader for Operation Red Nose and she'll continue to do the same work, no doubt.”
For Lekun, services like Green's provide a critical component to fighting impaired driving: prevention.
“What the organization does is provide options to the community so they don't have to get behind the wheel of their vehicle during the festive season after they've celebrated with friends,” he said. “It really helps prevent impaired driving and the incidents of impaired driving.
“Anything we can do to prevent individuals from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while impaired is something we'll support.”
Green says this new organization will be rolling out its new brand and “getting out in the community” over the course of the next few months and will announce its new service schedule in the fall.
Asked whether this new localized organization might be in a position to expand its service beyond what was traditionally offered by Operation Red Nose, Green said that it “certainly could be a possibility.”
“We're still going to provide the great service that we have been and we know that the people in Sudbury certainly embrace the service,” Green said.
A new Safe Ride Home Sudbury website will be launching soon along with the new service phone number: (705) 675-CALL (2255)
