Running 40 nights this semester, STRIPES rented 347 cars from Avis and relied on 6,500 hours of volunteer service, totaling 10,172 rides home fall semester.

“This is great for STRIPES and Mizzou,” STRIPES spokesman Chris Rucker said. “It shows that the students are using good judgment, and are getting their money’s worth with all of the rides.”

STRIPES has been running at MU for 10 years now, and Director Jeralyn Paulter said she is quite proud of the program’s achievements this semester.

“I am so honored to have led this fantastic organization through these significant milestones,” Paulter said. “STRIPES would never have gotten there without its dedicated members and supporters.”

The STRIPES drivers are unpaid volunteers, but the program continues to receive hundreds of applications each semester.

“Last semester we had more than 360 volunteers re-apply, and even more new applicants,” said Rucker.

Freshman Allison Pudlik applied to be a STRIPES driver next semester.

“It looks good on a resume, and I have no problem doing volunteer work,” Pudlik said. “Plus it’s a great way to meet new people.”

STRIPES has grown since it began a decade ago, and it’s expected to grow more in the future as MU grows, Rucker said.

The organization also relies heavily on food sponsors during the semester to feed the volunteer drivers, according to a STRIPES news release. Fall semester sponsors included Gumby’s, Chipotle, Shakespeare’s, the Heidelberg and Fazoli’s.

STRIPES is not the only safe-ride program for college students. It was modeled after CARPOOL, a similar program at Texas A&M University, and more and more seem to be available at colleges nationwide.

With STRIPES growing at such a rapid pace, it’s possible that they may need to increase advertisement to recruit more members, Rucker said.

“As Mizzou keeps growing, it’s possible that we might need to advertise a bit more,” he said. “But hopefully with more students, we will just naturally receive more applicants.”