Operation Red Nose goes online during COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Operation Red Nose will not be offering rides this month, but the annual St. John Ambulance program will still have a presence in Thunder Bay over the holidays.

"Obviously, the safety of our volunteers is our number one priority," said Brian Edwards, fund development and volunteer coordinator with St. John Ambulance in Thunder Bay. "So we just weren't able to secure kind of everything that we needed to ensure their safety as well as the clients and everything that's going on in our community."

This year, Operation Red Nose has moved online, and become an awareness-raising campaign designed to help stop impaired driving over the holidays.

"Our role with Operation Red Nose is still to deliver that fundamental message," Edwards said. "Find a safe ride home before getting behind the wheel impaired."

"We just want our community members to take the reins on their own safety this year," he said. "So we have a number of educational tools and awareness tools."

Those tools are listed on the website take-the-reins.com, and include tips on preventing someone from driving impaired, as well as recipes for non-alcoholic drinks, such as the Nojito or Virgin Ceaser.

However, Edwards said there's some concern over this year's Operation Red Nose, as in the past, it's also acted as a fundraiser for St. John Ambulance programs.

"It's been a bad year for St John Ambulance in that we've had to cancel a number of our our fundraising initiatives, or even cancelling first aid classes," he said. "So we're playing catch up right now."

"And even with the awareness campaign, we're still going to expect a significant decrease in donations," Edwards said. "So we're we are urging our community members, if you have money to spare, please consider donating to Operation Red Nose again this year."

Edwards said all donations stay in Thunder Bay, and are used to support community programs, which are offered for free by St. John Ambulance.