On a weekend filled with student activities, CSU’s safe ride program is looking for volunteers to drive the over-partied and fatigued back home.
RamRide is easily one of the most visible, and arguably most popular, programs that has been instituted by the Associated Students of Colorado State University. For those of you who don’t know, RamRide is a program you can call to get a ride home when you are too drunk to drive yourself.
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Past RamRide volunteers have a collection of experiences that are hard to forget, according to Jessica Galvin, a senior who has volunteered for three years.
“I have been proposed to three times while volunteering,” Galvin said. “I have also had several people fall out of the cars. Some of the funniest things happen in RamRide cars.”
RamRide is a fundraising opportunity for student organizations, according to Chelsea Green, RamRide director.
Organizations that bring 35 members to drive or navigate cars will be paid $1,000. Organizations with fewer than 35 members are paid $15 per volunteer they bring.
However, RamRide is not just for organizations. There are also perks for individual volunteers.
For students interested in volunteering for RamRide more information can be found on their website: www.ramride.colostate.edu.
“We will give you free t-shirts, and this year they look pretty awesome. You get free food too,” Green said.
In addition to a new dispatch system, RamRide is making an app that Green says she hopes will improve the RamRide system. Students can get notifications on their phones about the RamRide car assigned to them, an estimated time of arrival and an alert when the car is nearby and ready for pick-up.
“We are hoping to see the wait times drop to less than 10 minutes,” she said. “Keep a lookout for the RamRide app.”
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Besides the free gear, ASCSU President Nigel Daniels said there are many incentives for CSU students to put in time driving fellow students home. He said providing a service to CSU and the students is a huge benefit.
“We want to encourage every student to be a part of this experience,” Daniels said. “RamRide is one of the most unique programs we have and it’s one of the best in the nation.”
RamRide volunteers from previous years had thoughts and stories to share as well.
“When you get in there, it’s a family. Everyone just sits down and cracks jokes [and] talks about how crazy it’s gonna be,” said Halden Schnal, a junior who volunteered over 50 hours last year.
“You get to make friends and meet people that are different than you; it’s a nice way to branch out,” Schnal said.
Currently, they don’t have any volunteers, which is a huge problem. This is especially true for this weekend, with the coming of Macklemore and the celebration/commiseration of the Rocky Mountain Showdown happening simultaneously.
As fun as this weekend is going to be for all of us, it will become a lot less fun if our fellow students are getting into serious accidents because they can’t get home safely.
RamRide is run by students and for students. This isn’t something that we can pass off to someone else.
So let’s all step up, CSU. Let’s step up and volunteer.
Collegian Reporter Caitlin Curley can be reached at news@collegian.com.