Support awarded

Dougall Media's support of the local Operation Red Nose campaign has earned it national recognition.

St. John Ambulance awarded Dougall Media with the Mark Dailey Media Award, a distinction that is presented to only one media organization each year across Canada for promoting awareness of community services.

Stephanie Bateman, fund development and marketing coordinator of St. John Ambulance, said the company received the award in large part for its support of the annual Operation Red Nose campaign.

“It’s a really great campaign and Dougall Media has been instrumental in promoting the message of safety and awareness for that campaign,” Bateman said.

“Since 2009, the inception of the program, Dougall Media has been one of the major partners in this campaign. They provide a $48,000 sponsorship to this campaign and promote it not only through radio, but in print, online, and on television.”

Operation Red Nose, which will be entering its fifth year of operation, is a community-wide initiative that provides volunteer drivers to provide people a ride home in their own vehicles who find themselves unfit to operate a motor vehicle.

Traditionally people find themselves using the service because they've had too much to drink, or they're just too tired to safely get behind the wheel.

Bateman said while Dougall Media is not the first Thunder Bay organization to receive the award, it has been a while since a local company has received this honour.