While disappointing, Langley Gymnastics Foundation’s decision to take a step back from Operation Red Nose this holiday season isn’t overly surprising.
The organization has been operating the program in Langley and Surrey for more than a decade, providing safe rides to holiday revellers into the pre-dawn hours every weekend in December (with the exception of Christmas) and on New Year’s Eve.
That’s a lot to ask of anyone — especially volunteers.
I was invited out a couple times as a navigator several years ago when the program was still relatively new to Langley.
My job, ostensibly, was to offer directions to the driver of the client’s vehicle. In reality it was to be the second volunteer body riding with the client and then to help get the word out to the public about the program.
It was more fun than I could have imagined. The conversation in the car flowed freely from one topic to the next as we drove around in the dark and the clients, while often highly inebriated, were effusive in their thanks and usually donated generously to the foundation.
Every year there were rides that resulted in hilarious stories, destined to be told and retold — the names changed to protect the innocent, of course.
As much fun as it can be, it’s also exhausting to be consistently crawling into bed at 4 or 5 in the morning, sleep schedule thrown off for the week. As the novelty wears off, organizations often start to rely more and more heavily on a core group of volunteers.
It’s no wonder if they burn out.
The organization decided after last year’s campaign that they would hand off the reins to someone else for 2017. Unfortunately, the group that planned to take on the program for Surrey and Langley reportedly backed out too late for a replacement to be found.
It took some time for the program to find its footing in the area. The first few years were spent educating the public about ORN and the service it offered, with volunteers crashing parties at golf courses and community halls with their mascot, Rudy the reindeer, in tow.
In recent years, many people have come to rely on the program to transport them safely home in their own vehicle at the end of a night of partying.
Its absence is going to be felt.
Having an area as large as Surrey and Langley unserved — especially located as it is in the centre of the Lower Mainland — will put extra pressure on drivers in surrounding communities, but they won’t be stepping in to fill the gap entirely.
Trying to cover off such a large geographic area would be unfair to clients in their own towns who would be kept waiting that much longer for a ride. Taxis will be in short supply and so far at least, ride sharing programs are non-existent in Greater Vancouver.
None of this constitutes an excuse to drink and drive, obviously.
But it does mean that people in Langley and Surrey will have to plan ahead to ensure that if they are going to go out and imbibe this holiday season, there will be a steady set of hands at the reins to deliver them home safely.