Dear Editor,
Since my departure for the Cariboo was delayed, I took the opportunity of volunteering for Operation Red Nose (O.R.N.) one last time.
My goal was to drive my escort vehicle and beat my mileage from previous years of 1,000 km per year. Regrettably, an injury prevented me from achieving that goal, but I did drive four nights for a total of 750 km. And every kilometer and every night was pure fun! I encourage your readers to get on board next season.
More importantly, if the entire Richmond/Delta/New Westminster/Surrey operation prevented even a single motor vehicle accident caused by an impaired driver, like the one which disabled me in 1997, it was worthwhile.
O.R.N. would have saved all your readers millions of dollars in wasted medical costs, emergency responder costs, policing costs, insurance costs, and legal costs, never mind the ripple effect on our communities of lost careers, grieving families, destroyed businesses and the employment those businesses create, the impact on surviving children which spreads out to impact education services, medical services, voluntary participation, the list is infinite. Readers who have not experienced a serious motor vehicle accident themselves would be shocked to learn how much just one such accident affects them as citizens, community members, and taxpayers.
So, a big thank you to Carlene Lewall and her remarkable team at Delta Gymnastics for hosting the O.R.N. I drove for.
Their many business and private sponsors, the Delta Police, and the dozens of volunteers who drove, dispatched, and provided food and coffee until 3 a.m. every night/morning, especially my team members Don, David, Jared, Pam, Irene and Len.
Thank you to all the clients who did the right thing and chose to use O.R.N. services, and for the donations they made, which supports youth gymnastics.
Finally, my sincere thanks to those who sponsored me personally by helping defray the cost of driving my old wagon as an escort car: Couldn’t have done it without you!
Ryan Lake
Richmond
B.C.
