“I’m not a victim,” I told myself the first time an email regarding a job working as a victim advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving showed up in my inbox.
“I’m not a mother,” I told myself the second time.
The third time? I became the person who walks into a person’s life when everyone else walks out.
Nine months later, I became a drunk driving victim, and I knew I had to fight harder.
A year later, I became a mother, and I felt called to make the world a better place, a safer place for my child.
Today, nine years later as a victim advocate who covers nearly 80 counties in Illinois, my job can mean explaining the lengthy court process, working with a food pantry to deliver a meal or simply holding a hand to bring comfort.
Often, I struggle to secure travel funds to attend court hearing. It always breaks my heart to turn down a request.
That’s why we are asking you today to proudly declare yourself a MADD member. MADD aims to have 51,000 members this year to symbolically represent the fact that someone dies from drunk driving every 51 minutes.
Your gift will allow me to better serve victims and reduce drunk and drugged driving in Illinois and across the country.
Throughout the year, I’ll send you updates to let you know how your gift is being used, how it has touched lives and how it is making the world a better place.
I believe in what I am doing. I hope you do too.
