Updated on: 2/26/2019
The 2013 Walk like MADD and 5K MADD Dash that took place on September 15 at Magnuson Park in Seattle was a huge success, as volunteers and fundraisers were together able to raise more than $54,000 for drunk driving prevention and victims’ services.
Davis Law Group, P.S. employees, along with their friends and families, got together to show their support for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and were able to raise more than $2,700 for the cause. Davis Law Group was the top-fundraising corporate sponsor for the event.
Law enforcement agencies and those who have personally felt the loss of a loved one because of a drunk driving accident made up a large part of the turnout for this year’s Walk Like MADD event. Members of the Schulte family, who you may remember suffered a tragic loss in the deadly DUI accident that occurred in Wedgwood earlier this year, were also on-hand at the event and raised more than $5,000 for the Washington state chapter for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
KOMO News was in attendance at the 2013 Walk Like MADD event and reported on the many touching stories that have influenced so many people in Washington state to support the cause.
SEATTLE -- Families who have lost loved ones to drunk drivers braved the rain on Sunday to walk and run in the Mothers Against Drunk Driving 5K at Seattle's Magnuson Park.
"Look at all these people here. Everybody here has been touched by a drunk driver somehow," said Lori Moran, who lost two young daughters in 1990.
Some who came to the event ran and some walked, but they all moved forward together.
"I knew a neighbor many years ago who lost her young son to a drunk driver," said Lindy Jones. "For the memory. I'm doing it for the memory."
No one's loss deserves more attention than others, but a recent tragedy has drawn a lot of public attention. Dan Schulte's family was torn apart last March by a driver police say registered a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit.
Schulte's parents were killed trying to cross a Seattle street, and his wife and newborn son were severely injured.
"I'm trying to be optimistic about it all and look ahead and not back," Schulte said. "The more you get the word out, the more people know it can happen to you, it can happen to your family."
It happened to Moran 23 years ago on Valentine's Day.
"Kami was seven and Nicole was four," she said of her two daughters.
Moran has channeled her grief into action, speaking to school kids and lobbying for stronger DUI laws.
Schulte hopes Sunday's event can help save others from the pain he and his family is now enduring.
"Whatever we can to to prevent these tragedies in the future, I think we should and increasing awareness is a big part of that," he said.