It was a busy holiday season for volunteers at Operation Red Nose.
The charitable service, which offers rides to people and their vehicles have had too much to drink, raised $21,159 this year. Overall, volunteers gave 533 rides, which is higher than the 379 during the 2017 campaign.
Proceeds from the service go to KidSport Tri-Cities, an organization that helps with fees and equipment for disadvantaged young people who want to play organized sports.
"Donations are also up," said Chris Wilson, an ORN organizer. "I think as people who may have experienced what the commercial designated driving services cost, they're quite happy to generously donate to KidSport."
New Year's was the busiest night, with 20 volunteer teams giving 110 rides, mostly between 12:30 and 3 a.m.
This is the 12th year the program has been in operation and Wilson said they had anticipated an uptick in customers given the recent changes to the province's drinking and driving laws.
"I know when the province changed the rules about four years ago, we saw quite a large increase in the number of rides," he said. " This time, I think it was more subtle, but still, I think it made a difference."
