Year one is officially in the books for the new St. Malo chapter of Operation Red Nose.

Coordinator Charmaine Gosselin explains they were able to bring 280 people home safely throughout the holiday season and raised over 4,300 dollars for the community hall in St. Malo. Gosselin says they did not know what to expect when taking on such a large area but she notes they made it work.

"We thought this is huge but let's try it out and go from there and we're sticking to it," says Gosselin who notes their teams went further than originally proposed. The original plan would have seen teams going as far south as Vita and St. Jean but Gosselin says they went all the way to Sprague and Emerson.

"When someone calls you and they need a ride and we have a ride team available, you just send them. It's just what we do," she adds.

Gosselin says the overall feeling through their first year is a positive one noting they received a lot of community support whether for volunteer teams or food and equipment for volunteers.

"It's been so positive to have this community come together. I would say that it's been all smiles honestly. From the donations, from business sponsorships to volunteers and all the clients getting rides are so happy that this service is around."

She adds they had 130 volunteers which included one team called the Rudolphs, who consisted of Lucien Gosselin, Martial Lafantaisie and Pierre Gosselin, who volunteered together for five out of nine ride nights.

Although year one was just wrapped up, Gosselin is already looking forward to next year.

"For the amount of spread that we got for our first year, imagine how many more people will start using and start finding out about our services for the years to follow. Everyone is starting to get to know that this service is available in our area. Once you use it once, you're hooked, you want to use it again. So we're really looking forward to growing this program."