Need a DD?

The group formerly known as “WatchDawgs” will be back tonight, giving students safe rides home from downtown.

After being forced to cancel operations in the spring due to cuts in funding and the loss of a donated apartment that served as the organization’s headquarters, the nonprofit organization has reorganized and now calls itself “Designated Dawgs.”

“We spent all of last semester and the beginning of this semester fixing little problems,” said Kelly Tokarz, director of public relations for Designated Dawgs, in a telephone interview Wednesday. “It’ll be generally the same as how we were running as WatchDawgs, but we just worked out some kinks.”

Tokarz said the group received most of the funding it needed to reorganize through a grant from the UGA Parents and Family Association.

She said students will be working on a volunteer basis this semester, but beginning in the spring the group will have an application for membership where those interested in helping out can commit to a certain number of days per week.

For the first few weeks of operation this semester, Designated Dawgs is joining with other student organizations to ensure there are enough volunteers for each Thursday and Friday night.

This weekend, Gamma Sigma Sigma, a service sorority, will be manning the dispatch station – located by the parking deck on College Avenue across from Sand Bar and City Bar.

“There should be upwards of a few dozen [volunteers],” Tokarz said. “Maybe two dozen. There will be five or six cars [provided by Enterprise Rent-a-Car] driving, and we will have ‘Walk Dawgs’ walking around downtown to promote the program and let people know the number to call for a ride.”

Anyone looking for a ride home can call or show up at the dispatch location, put their name – or pseudonym – on the list and then receive a ride home when a car becomes available.

Designated Dawgs will provide rides from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Any additional callers after that time will be given the number for a local taxi service.

Tokarz said the group changed its name in April to be more straightforward in its purpose.

“The name WatchDawgs was always intended to have the positive connotation of looking out for students’ safety, however it was sometimes not interpreted that way by students,” said Ally Walls, executive director of Designated Dawgs, in a news release. “We feel that the name Designated Dawgs will better resonate with students while immediately conveying the purpose of our organization, which is to provide safe, free nonjudgmental rides home.”

The group, created in 2001, has secured funding to operate through December 2010, but is still seeking additional funding. In its eight years, the group has given nearly 60,000 rides to students and other Athenians.