Nicole Santos

When freshman Nicole Saltos was trying to find her place at the University of Georgia, she developed an interest in Designated Dawgs and has been in love with it ever since.

Designated Dawgs is a nonprofit organization run by student volunteers that provides students and individuals rides home in a safe and free way. According to Designated Dawgs’ website, the organization has provided over 85,000 safe rides home in the past 16 years.

Saltos’ friend was the one who invited Saltos to come and volunteer at Designated Dawgs and she ended up really liking the people in the organization.

Saltos started off as just a volunteer her freshman year and now as a senior, she serves as executive director of Designated Dawgs.

As an executive director, Saltos handles many internal and external responsibilities, and has to keep everything organized, especially when planning nights of operations, meetings and training volunteers.

Being a senior, juggling classes and being in charge of Designated Dawgs, shows that Saltos can handle responsibility and proves it by being organized.

“I don’t know off the top of my head, but I can find it,” Saltos said when trying to figure out how many rides they do per night on a night of operations. She opens her laptop covered with a variety of stickers, and her small planner which is filled from top to bottom with tasks such as meetings, school work assignments and due dates. She quickly writes in black pen and sets a reminder for herself for things she needs to do.

Olivia Spradley, the vice president of finance, said of Saltos: “She is very organized and she likes to plan ahead such as that we create a schedule a month in advance before we ever do anything. She really values the input of everyone.”

There are a range of responsibilities that can go into being the executive director of Designated Dawgs. For example, some of her responsibilities involve following the rules the University of Georgia has for Designated Dawgs.

Planning ahead with UGA involves getting access hours to Tate Student Center because members of Designated Dawgs get back at two or three in the morning, and they have to put all of their stuff inside. If there is a night they cancel they must let the University know in advance.

Some of the more behind-the-scenes responsibilities she has to do involve dealing with external stakeholders like the donors and applying for grants. Many of their donations come from the Leon Farmer and Company while their grants come from Parents Leadership Council.

Leon Farmer and Company is a wholesale beer distributor located in Athens and the Parents Leadership Council funds many University of Georgia student organizations like Designated Dawgs.

As a leader of the organization, Saltos “knows how to take charge when needs to be taken charge of,” says Jennifer Roy, vice president of operations.

On Nov. 7, 2018, a meeting was held in the Tate Student Center, Room 144, where multiple group members gathered to hear from Kelly Truesdell, from the Fontaine Center.

The room was filled with chairs set up an upside down U-shape where many of the organization’s members sat next to each other in rolling chairs. Everyone was laughing and talking about their day, including Saltos before the speaker started her presentation.

Saltos, sat in the center of the room in professional wear, paying close attention and nodding her head whenever she agreed with what Truesdell said. Before asking any questions, she would occasionally play with her bracelet and move her rolling chair slightly from side to side.

The Fontaine Center is a drug and alcohol prevention center located in the University of Georgia Health Center. Many of the people who ask for rides on a night of operations are drunk, so Designated Dawgs must be prepared for any situation that can occur on a night of giving rides.

Truesdell offered safety precautions, support and advice on how to handle a drug or alcohol-related situation and how to ask for help in the most effective way.

Helping people in the Athens community, especially in the downtown area, has opened her eyes to many dangers that can come of drinking and driving, says Saltos.

When Saltos was a sophomore at the University of Georgia, she and other volunteers were packing up, and witnessed someone trying to drive home visibly drunk and offered him a ride back home.

“That was the first time I was like, ‘This is the reason that I joined this,’” said Saltos.

Safety is the number one mission for Designated Dawgs, and they have to follow certain rules to make a night of operations run effectively.

A night of operations consists of having multiple volunteers set up in front of Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Athens to give students and other people free rides home.

To handle certain protocols, Saltos and other VPs in Designated Dawgs train volunteers for any possible situation that may occur.

One of the biggest rules they must follow is having two volunteers in the car when giving someone a ride back home. One volunteer must be the driver and the other has to be the navigator. Other rules include using the safe word “donuts,” following the standard if

there is a car accident and jotting down full name, address and how many people are in their party.

Garrett McCloskey, director of volunteer relations, is in charge of night of operations and makes sure they run smoothly.

McCloskey said that if he ever has any questions Saltos is “quick to respond” to anything he may need help with.

Her love for being apart of Designated Dawgs is shown by her dedication in what she does for the organization and how passionate she is about it.

Her friends and members of Designated Dawgs can see how much she has grown in her leadership skills, how organized she is and how much she loves giving back to the Athens community.

“We are all really passionate people coming together to do something really good.” says Saltos.