Connie Hagel has been out in the community to promote sober driving ever since the Estevan chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) started last month.
A launch for MADD’s red ribbon campaign took place on Nov. 2 at the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins game. The campaign spans from Nov. 1 until Jan. 1. Red ribbons will be placed in the community, and people will give donations for a ribbon as part of their pledge to drive sober.
“We were reminding people to find a safe ride home, and find a sober ride, and we gave out quite a few of those red ribbons. We also had a table set up with a whole bunch of information about what we do for MADD,” said Hagel.
Then on Nov. 10, MADD was out with the Estevan Police Service for high-visibility check stops, with gifts for those who were driving sober.
“The police would stop people, and we’d say on behalf of MADD, thank you for driving sober,” said Hagel.
The gift could be a red ribbon, a pen, a flashlight or any one of a number of other items.
“We had a lot of people talk to us, and we talked to a number of people,” said Hagel.
The pre-Christmas season is typically a busy time for MADD chapters, with Christmas parties and other socials happening. Many people make the mistake of believing they can drive home after events.
She wants to see people having a safe ride home, and no reports of impaired drivers in the media in the coming weeks.
A few more high-visibility check stops are planned over the next few weeks, and the MADD chapter will be part of those.
The red ribbons are out in boxes in the community.
She believes the red ribbon campaign and the check stops have helped promote the chapter. At her work, a lot of people have told her they are glad she has started the chapter in the community.
The MADD chapter already has about 10 volunteers, and one person has agreed to step forward as a board member. Hagel wants to have a couple more for the board, so that she can have a president, a treasurer and a vice-president or a secretary, and she is talking to a few people.
“The word is out, and people see me, that I’m making noise about it, so I’m getting volunteers,” said Hagel. “Anything that comes up, I do have plenty of volunteers, but I could always use more.”
The volunteers help her with handing out the red ribbons, and working at the check stops. Hagel is tasked with co-ordinating how many people they need and when, and they get the word out.
Hagel has a couple of other ideas in mind for the community. The first is to place a marker along a road where somebody has been killed by an impaired driver. She suggested doing it at the former location of the junction of Highways 18 and 39, where a taxi driver died in an impaired driving fatality in June 2017.
“The community was really aware of that happening,” said Hagel.
Also is the spring, she wants to start working on the return of a Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) chapter for the Estevan Comprehensive School, so that the students are aware of the dangers of drunk driving.
There is interest in resurrecting the SADD chapter.
“I’m not sure of how much we’ll do, but we’ll take part in as much as we can possibly do,” said Hagel. ”You’ll see us out and about, doing different things.”
