By Michael Joel-Hansen

Holiday season busy for Operation Red Nose

Dec 30, 2018 | 11:00 AM

The holiday season has been a busy one for Operation Red Nose in Prince Albert.

The volunteer operation, which offers people a safe ride home in their own vehicles, has provided services to a number of people according to Randy Braaten, chair of Operation Red Nose.

“We’re busier than normal this year, we’ve had a few really busy nights,” he said.

Braaten said the group has been able to keep up with the increasing demand for their services, but added at times more hands would have helped.

“There’s a few nights where we would have liked to have a few more people,” he said.

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Overall, it has been a good season for Operation Red Nose as they saw lots of demand for their services over the holiday season, which is important when it comes to public safety.

“The more people we can help out doing that, the safer we keep the streets,” said Braaten.

Braaten said they could still use some people to help out Monday night as people ring in 2019.

“New Year’s Eve is usually our busiest night,” he said.

Last year as P.A. was welcoming in 2018, Operation Red Nose got a large number of calls from people requesting their services.

“It got so bad last year that we just had to take the phone off the hook, [because] we couldn’t keep up, so many people were phoning in,” said Braaten.

People who are interested in helping out can get in touch with the organization by phone. Braaten said people who would like to volunteer should make sure to get in touch before New Year’s Eve.

“What I would do is urge people to start planning ahead for next year,” he said.

People who make use of the group’s services are encouraged to donate, with all of the money raised going towards some good work.

“All of that funding we donate back the elementary schools in P.A. and area for their programming,” Braaten said.

With files from Nigel Maxwell. 

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn