Pink Triangle Services (PTS) has withdrawn its application to run the Ottawa portion of Operation Red Nose.
“We withdrew our application because we were not able to receive the support of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS),” says Maura Volante, PTS executive director.
According to Volante, another organization currently runs an Operation Red Nose service in Gatineau, “and the Ottawa Police Service cooperates with that program.”
She adds that the OPS “didn’t want to be in a position of supporting” two programs that service the same general area, as the Gatineau program often crosses the river into the City Of Ottawa.
Under Operation Red Nose (ORN), a local organization provides volunteer drivers to transport people who feel they may have had too much to drink to safely drive a car. While the service is free, the groups running it usually receive generous donations and sponsorships.
PTS organizers estimated ORN could have raised more than $40,000 during the five-week holiday period between early December and New Year’s – which would have made it one of the organization’s most important fundraisers.
This was the first year that PTS had submitted an application to operate an ORN program. Volante says she is uncertain if the service agency will submit an application again next year.
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