May 8, 2002

MADD chapter seeks members

Jackolyn Hill hopes to set up Traverse City office

By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer
       Jackolyn Hill spent the evening of her son's 34th birthday at a meeting. She would have rather been with her son.
      Her son and only child, Chuck, was killed in a car accident in 1988 - an alcohol related car accident.
      The M.A.D.D. - Mother's Against Drunk Driving - meeting Hill held last Wednesday was an organizing meeting to expand the reach of M.A.D.D. in the Grand Traverse area.
      "It's something you never get over, but it helps to think you may be doing something that can help someone else," Hill said.
      Hill, who has been leading local projects like the annual red ribbon campaign and victim impact panels, has been doing so on her own.
      "She's nearly a one woman show here in Grand Traverse County," said M.A.D.D.'s state program director, Homer Smith at Wednesday's meeting.
      "With some help from the community, M.A.D.D. would be able to do so much more to address the problem of drinking and driving. Last year, for the first time in a decade, there was an increase in drunk driving related deaths. There needs to be a grass roots effort to keep this problem at the forefront." Smith noted.
      To emphasize the point, Smith cited a recent study that shows the earlier children drink, the more likely they are to become alcoholics later in life and the more likely they are to drive drunk and suffer unintentional injuries. According to the study, as many as eight young Americans die in alcohol-related traffic crashes daily.
      With a Level II chapter in Grand Traverse County, which requires a minimum of 15 members, M.A.D.D. would be able to set up a local office and offer services that reach out to victims and offenders as well as offer prevention programs to area schools and youth groups.
      "I would really like to see more done, especially in the early grades, to make prevention a priority," said Kim Holmes of Interlochen who attended the meeting with her daughters 16 year-old Rikki and 12 year-old Jerikka.
      "I was really shocked when we moved here, by the amount of teenage drinking and what a problem it is. I think this is a really good cause and I would like to get my children involved," Holmes added.
      Holmes is just the kind of person that Smith is hoping will come forward to make a difference in their community.
      "People sometimes get the idea that you have to be a mother or a victim to be a part of M.A.D.D. That is not the case, it is much bigger than that narrow perspective. Anyone who is concerned can do a part, there is so much we can do to win this war." Smith said.
      For more information about M.A.D.D., and how to become involved, call Jackolyn Hill at 935-3101.