Volunteer at the red Nose for 30 years

Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
With his eternal smile and his slippers, Ms. Rochette has become a figure full of the central Québec.

Martin Lavoie

Sunday, 17 dec 2017 00:00

UPDATE
Sunday, 17 dec 2017 00:00

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The impacts of alcohol around her, led her, one day, to get involved in red Nose. Thirty years later, his smile and his slippers have become legendary in the central Quebec.

“I’ve had more to drink in my life than anything else, tells the story of Pierrette Rochette, a volunteer for 30 years for the Operation red Nose in Quebec city. My father was a hotelier. We saw all sorts. “At a certain time, it is in the bar of a small hotel in each city and village that many in Quebec will drink.

“In time, there is that which existed for much of the world, as the beer between the two legs while driving. I have known someone who, when he was stopped by a police officer, came out with a bottle of beer and drank it with him ! I fell into the same pattern in me of marrying, ” recalls she.

With time, Ms. Rochette is looking to do his part for society and to tackle alcohol-related problems. “When red Nose arrived, I immediately knew that this is what I was looking for “, tells of the dame of Quebec.

When she started at red Nose, in 1987, the organization operated from the central police of Quebec. Of motorcycle escort (the person who follows in his vehicle the customer who is escorted back) to her debut, she went on to work more internally and to the inscriptions.

If she has not kept any spicy anecdotes of his years on the road, stories that occurred during the evenings on which she was working are still fresh in his memory.

$ 100 for a street corner

“I have a friend who, in his first foot, fell on a customer who has made a donation of $ 100 for a displacement of a single street corner. Another time, a customer is so drunk fell asleep in the car before giving his address. The coaches had only the name of the street, but they have found a remote control garage in the trunk to the glove and have it enabled to all entries until a door opens ! ” she says.

In some years, Ms. Rochette has been present at each of the evenings and nights of the operation, or nearly a full month. And that’s not counting the meetings of the organizing committees that start in September. “I even took a vacation to participate in red Nose. When I’m involved, I’m out. “

The one that has the CV of a volunteer “too long to mark all” left with the time his other commitments to keep that red Nose. With its “three-quarters of a century,” a term that she prefers to use to talk about her age, she has reduced her activities, but she did not let go. “I will continue as much as I’m going to be able to. I even said that one day I would be in a wheelchair or walker, if necessary. “

Effective

She has noticed the effects of the prevention. The drunk people died are more rare.

What she retains of these 30 years ? “The advancement of the work of Jean-Marie De Koninck (the founder of Operation red Nose),” said the nurse who has worked 40 years in the same department at hôpital Laval.

“Pierrette is a synonym of dedication and joy of living, says David Latouche, director of communications for red Nose. She is always ready to help and brings a good mood wherever she goes to the central. “

This good mood has earned him the nickname of Mrs. Smile. It is also known as Ms. Slippers, as she does not hesitate to take his ease to the central of Quebec and to put in his ” second home “.

“I sometimes encounter in Old Quebec in mid-summer and he said to me, “You don’t have your slippers ?” “

Always possible to register

Approaching his busiest time, Operation red Nose reminds us that the volunteers can apply until the end of the campaign.

“The effectiveness of the service driver is dependent on the participation of volunteers,” says David Latouche, director of communications for red Nose, who notes that the end of this week and the next will be the busiest. It is estimated that the recruitment takes place “rather well” at present.

Is it more difficult to recruit the evenings of the festival, such as 24, 25 and 31 December ? “There are several reasons that can motivate people to become volunteers. But for some, red Nose, this is a second family. And it is on them that you can count on during these evenings, ” says Mr. Latouche.

“The 24 and 25 are not necessarily our evenings busy, but 31, it is different,” adds Mr. Latouche. This is the night to the most complex. Before midnight it is quiet. After that, our lines start ringing quickly. Therefore, we need more volunteers during this evening and we succeed every year. “

Help

Some of the partners of red Nose give it a thumbs up specifically for the evening of the 31st. Labatt, for example, take a trip to Chicago among all of the volunteers who will be working at this time.

“It still lack of volunteers on the evenings of 24, 25 and 31,” says Pierrette Rochette. But on the other side, the party atmosphere at the center is so nice. I’ll do it again this year. “

Dated 13 December, 1971 volunteers of operation red Nose Quebec city-Lévis had done 1621 raccompagnements, which is comparable to previous years.

Driver

• 1 866 DESJARDINS
• (1 866 337-5273)
• www.operationnezrouge.com