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On Sunday, May 6th 2012, over 600 participants gathered in Huizenga Plaza in downtown Fort Lauderdale for the third annual Walk Like MADD^®. The Fort Lauderdale Walk is unique because along with the traditional, non-competitive 5K Walk, they have a corresponding 5K MADD Dash. Sponsored by Maroone and presented by Ultimate Software, the 5K walk and dash raised more than $84,000, surpassing their original goal by over $15,000!

Great fun was had by all the participants who spent the morning enjoying a wide variety of activities including a kids zone, vendor fair, live music and of course great food. Local law enforcement agencies supported the festivities with displays that included a seat belt convincer as well as having the bat mobile on hand for people to see. Each walker and runner were provided a goodie bag with many fun filled items supplied by sponsors to help them remember the event.

Over 80 volunteers helped to make this event a great success, and we could not have done it without all of their hard work and commitment to putting on a first class experience for our guests. A special thanks goes out to the Walk Committee Chairperson Heather Geronemus, who pulled the whole thing together for the second year in a row and insured the event’s success.

*All photos provided by Dan Rakofsky Photography

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Why We're Here: Michael Haynes
By MADD | June 4, 2012 | Filed in: Drunk Driving , Victim Services , Victim Stories

Michael Haynes was a loving husband, an amazing father, son, brother, uncle and a friend to so many. He loved spending time with his family, playing with his children and his Xbox. Michael cared deeply for serving and protecting others, which greatly influenced his life and career choices.

Michael joined the United States Army after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th and served his country with pride, courage, honor and integrity in Iraq. After he was honorably discharged, Michael joined the Montana Highway Patrol in 2006 to make the roads safe for his family, friends and fellow Montana residents—and he was great at his job. In his three years on the Highway Patrol, Michael Haynes received high marks from his supervisors, and was an aggressive enforcer of DUI laws.

On March 23, 2009, Michael was on-duty when a drunk driver traveling in the wrong lane crashed head on into his patrol car. Michael died from his injuries four days later, leaving behind his wife, Tawny, and two young children.

Following Michael’s death, legislators and other state officials agreed that something needed to be done about the drunk driving issue in Montana and try to remedy their stance as one of the worst drunk driving states in the country.

Michael’s wife Tawny has taken over his passion to get drunk drivers off the road and has become an outspoken advocate for stricter drunk driving measures. She has worked with legislative committees to examine the effectiveness of Montana’s laws and to see how they can be improved, and was also heavily involved in the passing of the 24/7 Sobriety Program Act for repeat offenders. Since the drunk driver that killed Michael was reportedly served 13 drinks before he got in his car to drive home, Tawny is also an advocate for stiffer over-serving law and has worked on mandatory alcohol training for servers.

"I want to do the right thing," she said. "I want his death to mean something; I want some good to come out of this."