We Need Your Help with Funding

by Kelly Dagenhart
President of RID of Oak Ridge/Anderson County

Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID), the oldest anti-DWI national organization in the U.S., was formed in 1978 in Schenectady, New York by Doris Aiken. RID of Oak Ridge/Anderson County was formed in January of 1982 after Oak Ridge San San Peng and her two children were killed in October 1981 by an intoxicated driver. Since that time the deaths due to DUI have steadily decreased and now are about 33% less than in 1982 even though the number of drivers has increased. We think that this would not have been possible without the outcry of RID and other anti-DUI organizations to support legislative efforts and to support our law enforcement personnel.

We appreciate those of you who continue to support RID with your contributions. However, our cash flow balance has been negative for some time and now has reached the point that decisions have to be made. We need your continuing support if we are not for instance to reduce our newsletter distribution and other items. We have already had to terminate our Dial-a-Ride program, which had been ongoing since about 1986.

Please send as much as you can, as often as you can, and repeat periodically as many time as you can. The drunk driving menace is still with us and we need your help to reduce it in the coming years. Note that 16,653 alcohol-related fatalites occurred in 2000 in automobiles. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s goal is to reduce this to 11,000 fatalities per year by 2005. RID supports this goal.