Memorial Day Crosses

Project Characteristics Program Areas Inform the young and remind the older generation about drinking and driving. Alcohol Awareness Safe Driving Skills Targeted Audience Jurisdiction The public and young people Three Affiliated Tribes Reservation - 5,000

Goals

• To remind the older generations that drinking and driving don’t mix.
• To provide awareness to the young people about the effects of drinking and driving.

Strategies

Darryl Hall and several volunteers from the Three Affiliated Tribes reservation get together in mid-April to start planning for the Memorial Day crosses. They repair or replace the wooden crosses if necessary, and mark the map with new deaths in the area around the reservation. They also make sure they have a new cross for each new death.

The crosses are put on the roadside where a vehicular death has occurred. The crosses are posted one week prior to Memorial Day and are left out until one week after Memorial Day. This helps remind people of how dangerous it is to drink and drive.

Results

• The crosses start conversations between the old and the young, and the young listen
• The crosses represent local deaths, so people take more precautions after the crosses are out each year.