A new operation Red Nose base is opening in the southeast this holiday season. 

Operation Red Nose St. Malo will launch for the first time this year with its headquarters at the St. Malo Catholic Parish and will offer safe rides home for nine nights between November 30th and New Year’s Eve.

 As Coordinator Charmaine Gosselin explains, they will be covering a large area. "We’ll be servicing rides in Niverville, Ste. Agathe, Morris, St. Jean, Vita, Dominion City, Ridgeville, Kleefeld, Grunthal, St. Malo, and St. Pierre."

To cover these areas, Gosselin says quite a number of volunteers. She hopes to have a minimum of 12 people on each of their ride teams plus a dispatcher and other volunteers taking care of food.

When deciding where they would all offer rides, Gosselin says they worked together with Operation Red Nose La Broquerie/Steinbach

"We looked at their map and it ended at the Kleefeld area," indicates Gosselin, "so then we literally looked at a map, looked at all the communities that surround us and that’s how we made our decision."

Gosselin says it is a large area but figures the population is similar to what La Broquerie/Steinbach covers and feels they are able to do it. She adds they are also able to work with other Operation Red Nose Bases and do transfers along the way if need be.

Gosselin urges anyone who is interested in volunteering to visit: https://www.safetyservicesmanitoba.ca/operation-red-nose/