SafeRides celebrates first anniversary
Posted on February 14, 2008
On Feb. 16, SafeRides will celebrate its first anniversary, and members have plenty to celebrate. Having given 4,463 rides since their opening, SafeRides has established itself with over 200 members.
“SafeRides has come a long way since our inception in February of 2001,” said Tamra Cornwell, executive director. “Our first year of successfully driving has been not only successful, but encouraging.”
It has been a learning process, one that Cornwell remembers very well.
“I remember the first phone call we received,” Cornwell said. “My hands were shaking as I was trying to write down the patron’s information. It’s just incredible how far we have come.”
Not only has the number of rides given exceeded expectations, but the number of members has as well.
“The energy is much more intense, which is something we never expected it to be,” said Amy Sale, public relations director. “We reached big goals this year, with technical things like nonprofit status, tax deduction, fundraising and upgrading.”
However, the members had to work through some minor kinks to get there. The second weekend of fall semester SafeRides did not run due to a shortage of workers.
“Everyone signs up for three nights a semester through Blackboard, and we had times we didn’t have enough people to work,” Sale said. “So I sent out an e-mail to our members, and everyone really stepped up to make sure that didn’t happen again.”
Cornwell said even though SafeRides did not run, she got encouraging feedback from the organization’s supporters.
“We actually got a positive response in support of the organization from administration,” Cornwell said. “They were disappointed not to see us drive after all of the hard work that was put into it and gave us all the support we needed. We have not not run since.”
One of the biggest problems SafeRides has faced is finding a national sponsor and maintaining funds to continue expansion here in Harrisonburg.
“We would like to have that cushion,” Sale said. “Right now it is limiting us from running more cars.”
It costs about $700 a weekend to run SafeRides, including insurance, car rentals and gas. There are three cars running each night with one driver, a navigator, two phone operators and a linguistics operator. Even with these costs, there is $19,000 in the bank for future weekends. SafeRides has spent around $9,000 so far this year.
Sale and the rest of the SafeRides staff have been working hard to maintain funds to keep the program running by having fundraisers such as SafeRides weeks, letter writing parties and they ask for donations.
Regardless of its financial situation, SafeRides is looking forward to celebrating its first birthday with everyone that has helped make it possible.
“We are having a birthday celebration Saturday on campus for supporting faculty, executive officers, the general body and our members,” Sale said. “We are also doing fun things in the cars this weekend to thank JMU like running through the McDonald’s drive-through to get them something.”
The festivities are taking place this weekend and Sale is excited to revel in the successes of the organization.
“We are spending about $100 [on the party],” Cornwell said. “This includes printing costs for publicity, a birthday party celebration for administration and general body, as well as advertisements and goodies that will be passed out in the cars.”
Not only do SafeRides’ members want more exposure, but they also hope to further establish their name.
“We also plan to continue our development as an organization within the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, giving back to show how much we appreciate what they have given us, which is a rare opportunity to serve,” Cornwell said.
Cornwell’s hope is that the organization will continue to grow and become a stable group at JMU for future students.
“I look forward to coming back to JMU and hearing about all the wonderful things the organization has accomplished,” Cornwell said.
