Once again the Oxford High School DECA Club is raising public awareness and money for a worthy cause, this time by asking students one simple question – “Got a ride?”
DECA members Kate Hubbard, Lauren Caleca, Kathleen Roberts and David Reile are working together to stop drunk driving by educating their fellow students about its dangers and raising $10,000 for The Foundation for Ashley’s Dream, a Troy-based group working to reduce and eventually end drunk driving, by March 11.
“Our focus isn’t on telling kids not to drink, it’s on telling kids not to drink and drive,” Roberts said. “We’re not saying drinking is okay. What we’re saying is we can’t control the decisions (students are) going to make, but we can let them know the dangers. We can let them know that once you leave that house or once you get into that car, you become a danger to yourself and other people.”
“Students seem to support that (message) more so that saying, ‘Don’t drink ever!,’” Caleca said.
To help raise awareness during Drunk Driving Awareness Week (Feb. 2-6), DECA members organized and staged a special assembly Friday, in which David Easterbrook spoke to about 650 students about how a drunk driver took the life of his daughter, 18-year-old Ashley Easterbrook, in June 1997 – a mere five days before she was supposed to graduate from Troy High School.
In personal and sometimes humorous detail, Easterbrook used words to paint a portrait of Ashley’s happy life, her family, her friends, things most high school students can relate to.
Then in heart-wrenching detail, Easterbrook recounted the story of Ashley’s untimely and tragic death at the intersection of Crooks and Long Lake roads in Troy on the night of June 2, 1997.
A drunk driver ran a red light and plowed broadside into the car Ashley was riding in, splitting the vehicle in two.
Ashley and her two young friends inside the car were killed, or “murdered” as Easterbrook put it.
He urged OHS students not to make the same “selfish” decision to drink and drive that killed his daughter.
Following Ashley’s death, Easterbrook and his wife, Gail, established The Foundation for Ashley’s Dream to help put an end to drunk driving.
What was Ashley’s dream?
“Dear God, Please help me and all others be safe on the roads. Love, Ashley”
That was an excerpt Easterbrook read from Ashley’s diary, which was found shortly after her death.
DECA members are trying to help make Ashley’s dream come true by raising a $10,000 donation for the foundation.
To that end, DECA members hosted a “Price is Right” game show event in December, which raised $568, and a “penny war” during Drunk Driving Awareness Week, which generated $337.
They’re also selling T-shirts for $10 each, which say “Got a ride?” on the front and “3 in 10 Americans will be affected by an alcohol-related crash” on the back.
So far, they’ve sold 94 T-shirts, raising $940. Only six T-shirts remain.
On Feb. 21, the four DECA members will host a fun-filled activity night at Gameworks, located inside Great Lakes Crossing, in which participants can purchase game cards giving them three hours worth of unlimited play for $20.
An undetermined portion of that amount will go toward helping DECA reach their financial goal for Ashley’s Dream.
Next to each Gameworks game that night a photograph of someone in Michigan who died because of drunk driving will be prominently displayed.
Roberts and Reile recently sent a letter to high school parents explaining their project and soliciting donations from them.
Checks can be made payable to “The Foundation for Ashley’s Dream” and mailed to Oxford High School c/o DECA Club at 1420 Lakeville Road, Oxford, MI 48371.
For more information about The Foundation for Ashley’s Dream visit the group’s web site at www.ashleysdream.org.