Action Sudbury is one of the latest victims of the global pandemic.
Ron Roy told Sudbury.com this is the last year Action Sudbury will exist. It will officially close in April 2022.
Action Sudbury was established in 1984 and has doled out hundreds of thousands of red ribbons in an effort to spread its message: Drive aware, not impaired.
“With the pandemic, we haven’t been able to do what we normally do, and I don't see it ending any time soon,” Roy said. “For those reasons, we are shutting it down.”
Peter Wong, former mayor of Sudbury, was the driving force in establishing Action Sudbury. He had been approached by a couple who had lost their 10-year-old child to an impaired driver. They wanted to see if the city could do anything about the impaired driving problem in Sudbury.
Action Sudbury-Citizens Against Impaired Driving, a volunteer group, was formed shortly after.
Roy, who has been with Acton Sudbury for 25 years, said the COVID-19 pandemic has put added stress on non-profit organizations to raise funds for their day-to-day operations.
“Most of our funding comes from Delta Bingo,” he said. “We can't do our core events, like the Red Ribbon campaign launch, and we believe it isn’t fair to other charities if we get that money and can’t do what we need to do with it. There is a real need for other groups to have funding, and if we give up our share, it just means more for those groups.”
He said the core group of volunteers with Action Sudbury are aging, and there is no one waiting in line to take over the reins.
“There’s a lot of disappointment, but everyone understands, and if we can’t do our mandate, it’s time to move on,” he said.
However, Roy said he’s hopeful high school students in Greater Sudbury will band together through the Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID) program to continue spreading the message.
OSAID is a charity that helps to empower youth to eliminate impaired driving. It’s a student-led, peer-to-peer program that helps develop valuable future leadership skills in teenage volunteers. OSAID addresses safety on our roads, while developing future leaders who will make lasting contributions.
On Nov. 16, Roy met with Tracey Adams, the secondary curriculum consultant for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board at Marymount Academy. Adams is also the OSAID representative for Marymount, director north for Arrive Alive and a member of Action Sudbury-Citizens Against Impaired Driving.
Together with OSAID students from Marymount, they celebrated the startup of three new OSAID chapters at St. Benedict, St. Charles College and Bishop Alexander Carter.
Action Sudbury donated $1,000 to help these new chapters get up and running.
“We are very happy these schools have OSAID chapters now,” Roy said. “OSAID groups are the future, they will carry on the message, and the students will hopefully continue throughout their lives helping to prevent others from drinking and driving.”
Action Sudbury is now gearing up for its Red Ribbon campaign, which will be held in conjunction with the annual Festive RIDE launch on Nov. 26.
Roy said he will miss the Red Ribbon launch, which provided a sobering message from people whose lives have been impacted by drinking and driving. Each year, a guest speaker shares a story, often tragic and involving the death of a loved one at the hands of a drunk driver.
“Nothing gets the message across better than someone who has been impacted,” Roy said. “We really appreciate the guts they have to come forward to share their story in hopes of preventing it from happening to others.”
Roy said he honestly believes Action Sudbury has prevented people from drinking and driving since 1984.
“Thanks to the community for all their years of support, and remember, drive aware, not impaired,” Roy said. “We believe so much in the message. If not for the pandemic, I’m sure we would be continuing.”
