VOICE. The 24th Annual Candlelight Vigil of Remembrance & Hope

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1 VOICE Where Caring Brings Rememberance and Hope The VOICE is a publication of the Kansas DUI Impact Center at 355 North Waco, Suite 220 Wichita, KS Vol. 17, Issue 1 Special Edition 2014 The 24th Annual Candlelight Vigil of Remembrance & Hope The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched, but are felt in the heart. Helen Keller

2 Voices of Victims Inspirational reading by Abby Brookshire for Abby & Nathan Toubia s crash September 2, 2012 Abby Brookshire read her victim impact statement from the court sentencing and gave a first hand account of how a drunk driver s decision has affected their lives. She also gave a look into the aftermath that their families have had to deal with since the crash. 2

3 Voices of Victims The following poem entitled My Child Did Exist was read by John Groves in remembrance of his son, Matt Groves, who was killed March 11, My Child Did Exist I ve lost a child, I hear myself say, And the person I m talking to just turns away. Now why did I tell them, I don t understand. It wasn t for sympathy or to get a helping hand. I just want them to know I ve lost something dear. I want them to know that my child was here. My child left something behind which no one can see. My child made just one person into a family. So, if I ve upset you, I m sorry as can be. You ll have to forgive me, I could not resist. I just want you to know that my child did exist. The Next Candlelight Vigil is scheduled for December 7th, 2014 If you would like to remember someone at the 2014 Candlelight Vigil, please contact us at (316) If you wish to be removed from our mailing list or have a change of address, please call (316)

4 We Remember Them... We would love to hear your feedback from the Vigil! Please fill out a short survey at: Wichita High School Northwest Madrigals A Very Special Thanks to all of the Volunteers from St. Mary! 2013 Vigil Sponsors David and Debbie Elkouri George Farha Living Trust James and Andrie Krahl St. Mary Orthodox Christian Church Catered by We would like to give a special thank you to the students who volunteered their time and talent to perform at our event. We would also like to thank their Director, Amy Brown, for making it possible. They performed O Loch Lomond and I Was Here and did an amazing job, thanks again! Please contact the agency for sponsorship opportunities at (316)

5 Meet our new Executive assistant, Kaylee Egbert meet Our New assistant outreach coordinator, madison stratton Hi, my name is Kaylee Egbert and I am the new Executive Assistant at the Kansas DUI Impact Center. I am originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, but now consider Wichita my home. I am currently pursuing an Accounting and Business Administration degree. I have recently transferred to Wichita State University from Butler County Community College and am looking forward to graduating soon! I have been blessed with one son, Darius, who is four years old. I feel passionately about what the Kansas DUI Impact Center stands for and am happy to be a part of the agency. Introducing Sober Drivers We are excited to announce that in November we launched our Sober Drivers program. For a reasonable fee companies can contact the KS DUI Impact Center and we will provide sober drivers for their corporate events. Please keep us in mind when your company is planning their next event and we will make sure your employees and guests make it home safe! For more information, please contact Andrie Krahl by phone at (316) ext. 101 or by at akrahl@ksdui.org I was born and rasied in the city of Wichita and it s surrounding areas. I attended Valley Center High School followed by Butler County Community College. I am just shy of completing my degree and intend on returning to complete it soon. I am the mother of a two year old boy, who is my world. The time I spend with him and family is something I cherish deeply. My past job history ranges widely from working with children with mental illnesses to various office or clerical positions. I enjoy working with people and the community. Helping people is something I am passionate about and enjoy doing. I look forward to getting to know all of you that make our agency possible. Open House 2013 The Kansas DUI Impact Center hosted it s first annual Open House this November. It was a great opportunity for us to give our community and supporters a closer look at what we do. We want to give a special thank you to our speaker, Rex Pawlak, and to everyone that was able to attend. We appreciate your time and look forward to making this an annual event. 5

6 KS DUI Impact Center 355 N. Waco, Suite 220 Wichita, KS Office: (316) KS Helpline: (800) Website: Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 622 Wichita, KS V I G I L Kansas DUI Impact Center To charge your charitable donation to the Kansas DUI Impact Center, please call , visit us online at or complete the information below and return this form to Kansas DUI Impact Center located at 355 North Waco, Suite 220, Wichita, KS Method of Payment: Check/Money Order Enclosed Visa MC Discover Name (as it appears on card) Credit Card Number Expiration Date Signature Dollar Amount Your donation will fund victim services and increase community awareness through outreach education in Kansas.

7 The Volunteer Voice Newsetter OCTOBER DECEMBER 2013 VOLUNTEER NEWS Interested in being a DD for others in your community? Contact Tracee O Grady about being a part of our Sober Driver DD program! Volunteers, keep up to date on the latest news stories & updates within the Kansas DUI Impact Center! Join us on Facebook & Twitter! KS DUI IMPACT CENTER KS_DUI Love our agency so much you want to share it with the world?! Or maybe you just like cool products, either way, check out our DUI Impact Center Store! Available online here! Ksdui.org We ve had a busy past few months with many events going on Here s a short list of everything that our wonderful volunteers have participated in over the past few months! On October 12th, several of you drove to Wichita to attend our First Annual Speakers Conference! Four speakers from around the state shared their stories. Thank you to Dee Barnhart, Rex Pawlak, Wanda Stewart and Michael Sullivan for speaking. We hope to see you all next year and help us make this event bigger in 2014! Jarrod Blecha (speaker from Salina) spoke to a group of airmen from the 22nd Air Refueling wing at McConnell Air Force Base on October 25th. Following the event, he received an award from Colonel James Jabara, Vice Commander of the 184th Intelligence Wing, thanking him for an earlier presentation to the Kansas Air National Guard and for his willingness to speak to groups at McConnell as part of their DUI prevention programs. Way to go Jarrod! Gary Heath with Claudia Blackburn, Director of the Sedgwick Co. Health Dept. On November 19th, Gary Heath was awarded with the 2013 Public Health Award for all of his hard work with keeping his community safe. Gary has volunteered with the Kansas DUI Impact Center since 1994 after he was injured by a drunk driver. Gary speaks at minimum, once a month at one of our panels, whether it be Wichita, Newton, El Dorado or anywhere else we ask him to be. In addition, Gary attends ALL Wichita panels to assist with seating attendees, panel follow up and with many maintenance issues throughout the office. Gary has volunteered over 2400 hours for the Kansas DUI Impact Center. Thank you Gary! During the latter half of October, many of our speakers were involved with the schools who were participating in Red Ribbon Week. Red ribbon week is a National event that is celebrated the last week of October, but schools tend to do activities during the whole month. Those activities provide education, resources and presentations to youth in hopes of preventing substance abuse. A special thanks to Jarrod Blecha, Dee Barnhart, Wanda Stewart and Avis Crosby who all did outstanding presentations to Kansas youth. 184th Intelligence Wing McConncell AFB Presenting Jarrod with award Avis Crosby speaking to a class at North High School in Wichita

8 The DUI Victim Center provides services to victims and their families and increases awareness of the traumatic consequences of drunk driving. K A N S A S D U I I M P A C T C E N T E R Thank you to all of the wonderful DUI Impact Center volunteers as well as the Volunteer Group from St. George Orthodox Church in Wichita who assisted with the Memorial Drive for Victims this year! The drive was held on November 26th, 2013 and was sponsored by the Kansas DUI Impact Center and designed to increase the public awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving and the significant increase in alcohol related fatalities during the holiday season. This year s participating law enforcement agencies were: Andover, Bel Aire, Benton, Butler Co. Sheriff s Office, Derby, Dodge City, Eastborough, El Dorado, Ford Co. Sheriff s Office, Haysville, Lansing, Leavenworth, Leavenworth Co. Sheriff s Office, Maize, Park City, Salina, Saline Co. Sheriff s Office, Sumner Co. Sheriff s Office, Valley Center, Wellington, Wichita in addition to Wichita State Police and McConnell AFB. Volunteers visited all of the participating agencies to thank them for their work in keeping our communities safe from drunk drivers. Red Ribbons, or in some cases, magnets bearing the DUI Impact Center logo, were placed on patrol cars. Each ribbon and magnet had a victim s name written on it. A special thank you to Becky Baker who made all of the treats in the Wichita area, Polly Mosier who made cookies in the Salina area, and also to Terry Booker and Dawn Monroe who assisted with food in the Lansing/Leavenworth area! Sheri Baker Bruster, John and Teresa Groves, Janet Fisher, Tiffanie Askew and Sandy Andazola all headed up this event in their area on their own! Without all of you, this event would not be possible! We look forward to working with you all again in 2014! Volunteer Night with the Wichita Thunder Hockey Team! Volunteers are invited to go to the Wichita Thunder Hockey game with Kansas DUI Impact Center Staff Sunday, January 19th Vs. Missouri 5:05 P.M. Please call or Tracee to reserve your tickets by 18th! , ext 105 or togrady@ksdui.org