In The NewsWSATF Thankful For Community's Role In Event
Originally printed in The Westerly Sun
Wednesday April, 29, 2009
Westerly Sun Letters to the EditorI have always believed that what makes a group like the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force work is the volunteer participation and selfless dedication of not just its members, but the whole community.
The WSATF has been very fortunate over the years to have enjoyed strong support from the Town of Westerly, Westerly Public Schools and the Westerly Police Department for the work we're doing. But it's been the commitment and spirit of countless people who have volunteered in some capacity that truly demonstrate the meaning of the word community.
Take for example the powerful and realistic mock car crash staged last Friday by Westerly High School senior Michelle Clark. Michelle organized the simulated crash as part of her senior project, which she hopes will bring much-needed awareness to the potentially deadly issue of teen drinking, and driving. Several hundred junior and senior WHS students witnessed the convincing recreation, and the event also received much-appreciated front page coverage by The Sun as well as a segment on NBC 10 news. Other members of the WSATF and I attended the mock car crash. We were all very impressed by what we witnessed and have in fact done many of these types of mock crashes in the past so knew what we were in for. But I was particularly moved by all the people that were involved, volunteers all of them; from the six student actors who were "crash victims" - all of whom deserve tremendous credit for their commitment and work that day - to the heroes of the Westerly Ambulance Cor!
ps. It's these people that I would most like to thank and praise. The sad news is that they see these types of tragedies, real ones not recreated, far too often. (One can only imagine what it must be like for them to have to pull an injured teen, or worse, a lifeless kid from a drunken driving wreck.) The good news is that the dozens of WAC volunteers that showed up last week to play out exactly what happens when there's a fatal crash did so because they want to save kids lives and they did so as volunteers, many having left their jobs to be there. That's what I'm talking about. I can't tell you how honored and proud I felt when I watched these great people do what they do best - save lives.
And it wasn't just the ambulance corps people that showed up to help make the mock car crash realistic.
Westerly Police officers made it all too real with their sirens and their mock "arrest" of one of the "intoxicated" teens, not to mention the gentlemen from the funeral home there with a gurney to take away the kid that "died" in the crash.
Let me say this again, it takes a whole community to make a difference, and last Friday, that point was driven home. So thank you one and thank you all. Let's continue to work as a community to keep our children safe and making good decisions. Their lives depend on it.
Mary Lou Serra, coordinator Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force Westerly