A driving service providing Winnipeggers with safe rides home during the holiday season is in need of smartphones.
Operation Red Nose Winnipeg said they are in need of 100 Androids after Bell MTS announced they would longer be a sponsor after more than 20 years, which included providing the driving service with the phones.
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“Smartphones are very key to our operation,” Randy Clark, Winnipeg Operation Red Nose co-ordinator said.
“That’s how we know where you’re going, we can see every team, every person and it’s a lot easier to connect them.”
When someone calls Operation Red Nose, a three-person volunteer driving team picks them and their guests up, then drives them home in their own car.
The service fields between 30-40 drive teams per night and up to 50 teams on New Year’s Eve.
During the 2017 holiday season, nearly 2,500 volunteers gave close to 4,500 rides in 10 communities across Manitoba, raising more than $95,000 for a number of organizations in the province.
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Bell MTS said their corporate policy has changed and their support is focused elsewhere.
“What Bell MTS and what Bell has been doing nationally is supporting mental health,” Dan McKeen, Vice Chair of Bell MTS & Western Canada said. “So we do a tremendous amount of donations around mental health and supporting mental health and that’s the area we’re focusing on right now.”
Operation Red Nose is asking those looking to donate an Android to contact Tom Chaput at chaputmanta@gmail.com or info@rednosewpg.ca. They are unable to accept any iPhones.
“I’m truly hoping we have enough people step up with those smartphones,” Clark said. “We’ll do the rest. We need people to step up.”
WATCH: Operation Red Nose prepares for New Year’s Eve