National Teen Influencer Summit
By MADD | July 2, 2012 | Filed in: Underage Drinking

This past weekend, 10 teens from across the country gathered at MADD’s national headquarters in Irving, TX, for the first National Teen Influencer Group Summit.  The teens, ages 13-18, were appointed to the group either by winning the national Power of You(th) video contest held in the spring of 2012, or by nominations from MADD staff and volunteers and partnering organizations.

At the Summit, the Teen Influencers shared their own experiences about the challenges associated with underage drinking as well as their ideas for reaching teens with the life-saving message about the importance of waiting until after 21 to drink and of choosing not to ride in a car with someone who has been drinking.  We talked about MADD’s developing strategy for reaching teens, how we could do better, and what more could be done through the Power of You(th) program.

The Summit was a great opportunity to work together to create a program for youth, by youth.  We look forward to using the knowledge gained during the weekend activities and continuing to work with the teens via conference calls to further develop MADD’s Power of You(th) program to reach teens across the country.
Thank you to the very talented 10 National Teen Influencers for your participation and insight that will ultimately help save countless lives!  You are our future, and it’s for that reason we press on.

Thank you also to State Farm, who is the presenting sponsor of the Power of You(th) program and of the National Teen Influencer Group Summit.

Why We’re Here: Steven Benvenisti
By MADD | July 1, 2012 | Filed in: Drunk Driving , Victim Stories

While on spring break during his senior year of college, Steven Benvenisti was walking with friends one evening when he was struck by a habitual drunk driver driving 50 miles per hour. His legs were crushed upon impact, his head smashed through the windshield of the car that struck him, and his body was thrown 70 feet. 

Steven sustained a severe traumatic brain injury and remained in a coma for 10 days. His parents were called and asked permission for organ donation. Upon awakening from the coma, he did not recognize his parents, could not speak, and had extensive cognitive deficits, including no short term memory, along with severe reading comprehension issues. He spent six months in the hospital, enduring 15 surgeries and intense rehabilitation. 

When Steven learned of his grim prognosis and realized what had been taken away from him because of a drunk driver, he promised that if he had a full recovery, he would spend the rest of his life doing everything he could to end drunk driving. 

After the crash, Steven turned to MADD and found victim advocates in Florida and New Jersey who helped him and his family deal with the challenges from the crash. Amazingly, he fully recovered, went on to law school, and now is a partner at the law firm of Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, where he represents victims of drunk driving and their families in lawsuits against the drunk drivers and those who served them. He has served on the New Jersey Advisory Board for MADD for several years and has recently been named as one of the five new members of MADD’s National Board of Directors.

Steven is also an award winning motivational speaker who shares his personal story entitled “Spring Break.” All of Steven’s speaking fees are waived in favor of a donation to MADD.

My First Year Observations
By Jan Withers | July 1, 2012 | Filed in: General , National President

What a gift. I am sitting on the plane and can barely refrain from every now-and-then throwing my arms in the air and squealing, "Hooray!" Instead I quietly giggle to myself so my fellow passengers don't think they are trapped on this flight with a crazy lady. MADD’s VP of Public Policy, JT Griffin, just called me to inform me that the federal transportation bill passed with most of our requests included. I am ecstatic because this will help save thousands of lives.

This weekend marks the end of my first year as president. I can't believe it has gone by so fast. I have been asked what I think my greatest accomplishment has been during this time and I had a difficult time with that question...until today. I cannot accurately describe my feelings because I am so elated. Why? Because this bill will literally prevent so many families from suffering the agony of having someone they love killed or injured by a drunk driver. It will help prevent so many individuals from suffering a lifetime of emotional or physical pain as a result of someone's choice to drive after drinking.

MADD puts a face to the numbers. We are blessed to have the most skilled public policy team for which you could ever dream. JT Griffin, Stephanie Manning and Steve O'Toole know exactly which Congress committee members and staff with whom to work...and I mean work. Together, we have persistently worn down the marble floors on Capitol Hill and depleted our cell phone batteries behind the scene in order to get our priorities in the legislation. We also owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to many congressional staff persons who worked tirelessly with us. On the state level, Frank Harris is equally as talented in working with many of you to pass ignition interlock legislation.

My message to each of you in our MADD family is how your stories make a difference. We put a face to the numbers. This year I watched the effect Connie Russell had on the Florida House Judicial Committee as she told them how her only child, Matthew, was killed by a drunk driver. I watched the effect Ron Bersani, Melanie’s grandfather, had on Massachusetts legislature as he shared her story. And I personally experienced how members of Congress and their staff responded to our requests after listening to Alisa's story. I have personally experienced the power of the personal story.

I often wonder what Alisa would be thinking as her story and her pictures are spread around the country. Her closest friend was laughing recently as we discussed just that. She said Alisa would be mortified. I don't doubt that, because she once told me that in ballet class she didn’t like being the dancer that the instructor had everyone observe in order to perform a specific movement correctly. She would say, "I just want to be normal." Of course, that was a teenage girl talking, but she never sought attention. She just liked to dance. However, she cared so deeply about everything living I want to believe she would be okay with it.

My absolute favorite part of this past year has been spending time with our MADD family around the country. I want to shout from the treetops how amazing you all are. Everywhere I go I am inspired and humbled by your dedication to working hard to support our mission. It isn't easy. It takes hard work. Each of you is committed to the challenge. I love you for that. You are all about saving lives and giving the best support possible to people victimized by impaired driving.

We are determined to eliminate this violent crime. That is why we must stay focused on the countermeasures that are most effective in saving the most lives in the shortest time. Wasting time and energy on efforts that feel good but do not accomplish this goal costs lives! I am personally not willing to do that. That is why I am thrilled with the new transportation bill. It will save more lives sooner, so fewer families will have tragic stories to tell. Instead they will have new pictures of memorable events to put in their family albums.

I applaud each of you. It is an honor to walk beside you on our journey. It is a privilege to be part of this wonderful family.