I received a nice letter today from Mothers Against Drunk Driving-North Texas, asking for a donation. I urge each of you to support this fine organization that has done so much to protect us from drunk drivers. Here is the text of the letter:
Dear MADD Supporter,
This holiday season, Mothers Against Drunk Driving-North Texas asks you to give a special gift to your friends and family: the gift of safety
In 2007 an estimated 12, 998 people died in alcohol-impaired traffic crashes involving a driver with an illegal Blood Alcohol Concentration, BAC (.08 or greater). Over 1,000 of these deaths occurred between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve holiday season. Texas ranks number five in the country for fatal alcohol impaired crashes – 38.4 percent of all fatal crashes in Texas involve a driver with an illegal BAC.
MADD North Texas has worked diligently since 1982 to help eliminate drunk driving and its effects in all 31 counties we serve. This past year MADD North Texas has:
- Offered support to over 1,100 victims of drunk driving
- Held 128 Victim Impact Panels, reaching 8,000 offenders
- Supported 60 families through the court process
- Held 50 adults support groups and 25 child/teen support groups
- Educated over 16,000 children and teens about the dangers of underage drinking
- Collected over 1,000 signatures for our Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving
While we have made significant strides in our efforts, we still have a lot of work to do, and we need your help! Your contributions will aid MADD in its mission to stop drunk driving, support victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking.
Please support MADD North Texas this season so we can continue to offer no cost assistance to victims, educate children and teens about the dangers of underage drinking and fight to eliminate drunk driving. To learn more about MADD North Texas or make a donation online please visit www.madd-metroplex.org. Thank You in advance for your support.
Wishing your family a safe holiday season,
Holly McCauley
Development Officer
Robert I love you but you have got to stop drinking the kool-aid with this one. MADD has gone so far off course that even its own founder won’t have anything to do with it.
Money to MADD goes to paying the over-inflated salaries of its humongous staff. A staff by the way which perpetuates itself by making false claims about how many real innocent lives are taken each year by Drunk Driving.
MADD makes more than Fifty One Million Dollars ($51,000,000) a year and pays its executive director over a quarter million dollars a year. Most Executive directors of charities earn far far less. Staff for MADD is nearly 45% of its budget.
Additionally it has one of the lowest efficiency rankings in the Charity Navigator’s rankings. (www.charitynavigator.org) Over-all it only has a rank of 2 out of 4 stars. The American Institute of Philanthropy gives it a “D” (A+ is the highest).
The continue to perpetuate that drinking and driving is a crime (Drinking and driving intoxicated is a crime) and they continue to try to lower the BAC for legal driving where in fact there has been little proof that .08 is an accurate figure for such a criminal charge. They also support laws that are designed to keep people charged with DWI and DUI from having lawyers and laws that are designed to further butress their view that alcohol should be a banned substance.
MADD as presently constituted is nothing more than a lobbyist group they are corrupt and they publish false and misleading studies. They are at the front of a movement to keep real science out of the courtroom so as to support their positions and salaries.
NO BOB do not be fooled. MADD IS NOT A CHARITY WORTHY OF YOURS OR ANYONE ELSES “SUPPORT”.
I am the Dev. Officer at the North Texas Affiliate and I just want to thank you, Bob, for supporting our cause and posting this. I understand there are those out there who don’t know and understand what MADD is really about….it is a shame. I won’t waste my time defending our organization to someone who already has their mind made up.
I will, however, encourage everybody to drink responsibly this holiday season and please designate a driver.