Palm Trees

Families of Drunk-Driving Victims Give Back By Volunteering for MADD Fundraiser

Hank Alvarez lost his son more than seven years ago to drunk driving, and says he relied on support from families who experienced similar losses. Now he’s giving back by participating in Saturday’s “Walk Like MADD" fundraiser in Long Beach, California, sponsored by the Los Angeles-Ventura chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Steven Alvarez, a 20-year-old wrestling coach at West High School, was driving in April 2003 when he was broadsided by Ricardo Pena, 22. Steven was taken off life support the next day, while authorities said that Pena's blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit.

"The hardest thing about losing someone is learning how to live with the pain," said Hank Alvarez, a longtime Torrance resident. "You move on, but it's still not easy."

Alvarez has participated in “Walk Like MADD” event for the last six years to honor his son's memory. His team, "Alvy 59," has already raised nearly $900.

"I can still picture how it happened, when the officers told me he got hit," he said. "To this day, I can picture it in my mind."

Palos Verdes Estates resident Marlene Young, whose daughter Whitney was killed by a drunk driver in 2006, is also participating in the event. In her third year walking, Young has put an extra emphasis on finding children and teenagers to participate in her daughter's team, "Whitney's All Stars."

"That's what we want, young people talking to young people to create positive peer pressure against drunk driving," Young said.

Young has channeled her pain by volunteering for MADD. To her, every person educated is a person saved. She has also enlisted the support of the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, which signed up a team of virtual walkers to raise funds.

"My reason for doing it every year is just to try to impact one person," she said. "Someone could be spared the tragedy that we've had to experience."

Cheryl Matasso, a Harbor City resident who will walk Saturday, volunteers for MADD by speaking to the community about ways to prevent these accidents.

"I tell them about things you can do to not drive drunk," said Matasso, who lost her daughter in a drunken driving accident in 2006. "You can get a motel close by, hire a cab, hire a limousine, have a designated driver."

The accident that killed her daughter, Michella, also killed West High School graduate Allison Dewart and critically injured three other girls.
MADD's goal for the walk is to raise $800,000 to help local volunteers who organize community support groups and preventative programs to combat drunken driving.

Statistics show that 41 percent of fatal crashes are alcohol related.

The walk begins at 9:00 am on Saturday, September 26th at the Queen Mary Events Park, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA.