HomeJames looking for volunteers

November 4, 2015 · 0 Comments

The holiday season will soon be here, with the accompanying celebrations.
That means there will be some who might over-do it, and have too much to drink.
HomeJames is a community response to that problem. The service gets drivers, their passengers and their vehicles home safe.
The annual HomeJames service in Caledon will begin Nov. 13 and be available every Friday and Saturday night until Dec. 19, as well as Boxing Day night, (Dec. 26) and New Year’s Eve.
But in order to do that, they need volunteers.
HomeJames Caledon is starting its biggest annual challenge this week; finding volunteers.
HomeJames Caledon Chairman Tayler Parnaby said they are looking for 161 volunteers this year. Of that, 128 will form the car crews to go and pick up the clients. The other 33 will be needed to man phones and dispatch the teams from a computerized operations centre in Bolton.
Anyone who thinks their ability to drive is impaired, for whatever reason, is welcome to request the HomeJames designated driver service by calling 905-951-9000 anytime between 9 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. nights of operation.
Teams of volunteers will be dispatched to the client’s location. The team usually consists of a designated driver to drive the client’s vehicle, a person to drive the shuttle vehicle and a navigator to also handle communications.
“The objective is to make the holiday season safer for all by providing residents of Caledon and their immediate neighbourhoods with an alternative to drinking and driving and avoiding the often tragic consequences,” Parnaby commented.
“With refined dispatching techniques and a newly adopted system for staging vehicles at Tim Horton’s outlets throughout the Caledon region, a HomeJames car crew will be at a driver’s service within a few minutes,” Parnaby added. “The only stipulation is that the request is made by the owner of the vehicle car crew members will be asked to drive and who can produce proof on insurance.”
There are three ways to register as a HomeJames volunteer — Online, by going to www.homejames-caledon.ca and clicking on the Volunteer tab; by email, by writing to homejamescaledon@gmail.com, providing name, address and phone number; and by telephone at 905-951-9000 and leaving a name, address and phone number.
Parnaby observed that in the first six years the program has been available, more than 6,500 people have taken advantage of the service. During nights the service has been operation, Caledon OPP has reported there have been serious traffic accidents, injuries or fatalities involving impaired driving.
“It’s an enviable record,” he said.