September 14th 2024 – The annual Walk Like MADD fundraising event in Clovis invited the community to take part in recognizing those injured and killed in impaired driving accidents as more than just statistics.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) puts on this event annually to raise funds for the organization’s prevention programs, like the Power of Youth and Power of Parents programs, which raise awareness for substance abuse in children and young adults, and provide parents with the tools necessary to prevent impaired and distracted driving in their families and communities.
“We’re out here to let the community know that these services are available for free and that we stand against drunk and impaired driving, because this is a 100% preventable cause,” says MADD Program Specialist Jasmin Rivas.
“Sometimes it comes out like a tagline,” Rivas added, “But we know how to stop this and we can, if the community comes together and rallies around the mission to end drunk driving, there will be no more victims.”
The Walk Like MADD Central Valley fundraising event this year had a goal of $30,000 and managed to raise over $42,000 instead.
The top contributors were the Fresno County District Attorney’s office, raising over $8,000. Lead by District Attorney Steven Ueltzen, they raised the most funds as a Law Enforcement Team to support MADD’s mission to end drunk driving.
Gretchen D’Souza, the Experience Chair for the event, is a survivor of a drunk driving collision. Paralyzed from the neck down from a crash caused by a driver under the influence, D’Souza is a wheelchair user and has been attending and organizing Walk Like MADD events since 2015.
“To me, it’s kind of my way of bringing the community to understand and truly put themselves in our position for just a moment,” D’Souza explains, “I really, really wanted teens especially to come out and see the victims, and families, and the consequences that there are to drinking and driving, and driving impaired in general.”
D’souza specifically created the layout of the event to follow a storyline, from a wrecked car on display, to the first responders on scene, and the law enforcement soon after. A memorial tent stands in the middle of the park, and supports tents for prevention, awareness, and self expression stand beyond it,
“I wanted them to see how much support there is for a cause that’s so, kind of, there in the back of our minds, but not always in front of us every day until something tragic happens,” D’Souza added.
The newest area at the Walk Like MADD event this year was the Pet Relief area, to invite community members to give their dogs a break on a warm Saturday morning.
About the role of pets in impaired driving prevention, D’Souza says, “It’s something tangible that we can see and understand. When you drive impaired, you may injure yourself, hurt someone, kill someone else, and there are pets at home and they’re waiting for you to come home. That’s something that resonates with a lot of people.”
The 5k walk was attended by “teams” of families and friends of people injured or lost to impaired driving incidents. Their t-shirts and banners let everyone know who they loved and lost, and why they care deeply about the cause. The Dry Creek Trail between the trailhead at Shepherd and Sunnyside Avenues, and Dry Creek Park, was decorated with the faces and stories of people lost to drunk driving.
Participants were applauded and cheered on as they left on their journey, and as they returned to the park by volunteers and waving flags.