‘Walk Like MADD’ set for Sept. 14 at Red Rock State Park

By Tyson Hudson
Navajo Times

WINDOW ROCK

Mothers Against Drunk Driving will host a 5k/10k race and 2-mile walk on Saturday, Sept. 14, to honor and remember those injured or killed in DWI vehicle crashes, according to the MADD website.

The “Walk Like MADD” will start at 7:45 a.m., at the Red Rock State Park in Church Rock, New Mexico.

Jennifer Bates, a MADD court monitor, said the event, Walk Like MADD, will be an inaugural event in Gallup. The Walk Like MADD is a fundraising event to help raise awareness of the drunk and drugged driving dangers, and to support MADD’s lifesaving mission in creating a future of “No More Victims.”

“Families can honor their loved ones that they’ve lost in DWI crashes,” Bates said.
Bates has been involved with MADD for five years after reading a news story about a girl who was killed by a drunk driver after getting off a school bus in Chilchinbeto, Arizona.

“It just infuriated me,” Bates said. She decided to do what she could to fight against impaired drivers, especially repeat offenders.

She monitors DWI hearings and how courtroom judges are handling DWI cases in northwest New Mexico. She also helps victims and victims’ relatives who must navigate their way through the court system while grieving or recovering.

Educating the public, especially children, about the dangers of driving while intoxicated is important as well, Bates said.

“It makes you feel good,” Bates said. “Like you’re doing something that has a good purpose.”

She said if talking about DWI will change someone’s mind about driving impaired or taking car keys away from someone intoxicated, then she’s doing her job.

The race will feature several speakers whose loved ones were killed by a drunk driver, according to Bates.

Darlene Peshlakai, a MADD national ambassador, will be a guest speaker. Peshlakai lost two daughters to a drunk driver in Santa Fe, in 2010.

Sam Bryant, who lost his wife to a drunk driver on New Mexico Highway 264 in 2020, will also speak.

Information: Jennifer.bates@madd.org, https://www.walklikemadd.org/.