B.R.A.K.E.S. programming

The first couple of months of the year are always a rollercoaster of emotions. Following the joy of the holidays is the anniversary of my boys’ crash on January 26, and Jon’s birthday is February 2; he would have been 29 this year. But those difficult days are made a little easier by the excitement of planning another year of B.R.A.K.E.S. programming. 

If anything, the start of 2019 has been crazier than ever – but again, in a good way. We’re planning over 40 weekends, including visits to several new communities and great new venues. And instead of our traditional “Fore the Kids” golf tournament in North Carolina in the spring, this year we’ve got a new affiliation with the “Swing for Safe Teen Driving” tournament at Michigan’s Oakland Hills Country Club in June. This event, which was started by our friend Steve Kiefer to honor his son Mitchell who died three years ago in a distracted driving crash, should bring significant additional funding to B.R.A.K.E.S. to help with programming in that state.  In addition, we’re working with our long-time partner DENSO on a special campaign for “National Distracted Driving Awareness Month” in April that should be a lot of fun.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, we started this year off with a special ceremony on the start line at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, where motorcycle drag racing legend Terry Vance presented me with a $1 million check for B.R.A.K.E.S. We were all completely blown away.

Thanks to the Terry and his wife’s generosity, there’s even more to look forward to in the coming year than we could have ever imagined. This rollercoaster is picking up speed!  

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