Hollywood Travels to Capitol Hill to Highlight Efforts to Prevent Impaired Driving

Hollywood Travels to Capitol Hill to Highlight Efforts to Prevent Impaired Driving

Popular L.A. Based Singer/Songwriter Turns Her Personal Tragedy to Triumph

LOS ANGELES, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- As impaired drivers continue to kill more than 17,000 people in the U.S. each year, AWAKE Community (Artists Working for Awareness Knowledge and Education) is joining with the more than 30 congressional members of the Stop DUI Caucus to honor, unify and energize the many organizations and individuals who work everyday to prevent these needless deaths.

AWAKE Community was founded by popular indie singer/songwriter Emily Richards (www.emilyrichardsmusic.com) in honor of her 19-year-old sister Annie who was killed by a drunk driver in July 2000. Emily is a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and a volunteer for Recording Artists Actors and Athletes Against Drunk Driving.

Emily has dedicated her music career to her sister's memory and has spoken and performed at many high schools, universities and charitable events to educate the public about drunk driving. During last year's presidential election, Emily attended the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, where she met several senators and representatives on the Congressional Stop DUI Caucus to discuss AWAKE's commitment to help reduce impaired driving in the United States.

"AWAKE's aim with this event is to use the arts and the artistic community to build a bridge from Capitol Hill to local communities. Synergizing the collective missions of the many groups working to reduce impaired driving is our goal," said Richards, who in addition to founding the AWAKE Community is the newly appointed President of MP3tunes (www.mp3tunes.com), a company formed by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson. "After my sister's tragic death in 2000 I made a conscious decision to dedicate my career and my life to fighting impaired driving so other families can avoid the terrible pain my family has suffered."

The Congressional Stop DUI Caucus was launched last May in conjunction with a nationwide anti-DUI media campaign with the National Association of Broadcasters and is chaired by U.S. Representatives Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Jon Porter (R-NV). The Caucus is a bi-partisan group of Members of Congress committed to reducing drunk driving through increased public awareness and education efforts. The Caucus provides Members of Congress with information on effective programs and countermeasures to reduce drunk driving.

"Events to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving are a critical part of DUI prevention efforts, especially those aimed at young people. By bringing together artists and entertainers, AWAKE Community is helping to deliver a message that we all hope will save lives and make our streets and communities safer," said Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Co-Chair of the Congressional STOP DUI Caucus.

Drunk driving is the most prevalent violent crime in our country. During the last 10 years, alcohol-related crashes killed more than 155,000 people and injured nearly 5 million at a cost to taxpayers and our economy in the tens of billions of dollars. Unfortunately, alcohol-related highway deaths are on the rise.

"As a nation, we can never do enough to prevent the unnecessary loss of lives caused by a drunk driver," said U.S. Representative Jon Porter. "As we have too often seen, drunk driving cuts short the lives of our loved ones. Every 30 minutes, nearly 50 times a day, someone in America dies in an alcohol-related crash. We must do more to educate our young people about the dangers of drunk driving. I appreciate very much the efforts of Emily Richards and the AWAKE Community. They, among many others, help us all to better educate and inform our nation of the serious consequences caused by drunk driving."

The event is being sponsored by generous contributions from: Anheuser-Busch, Easterns Automotive Group, State Farm Insurance, the Beer Institute, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Miller Brewing Company, the REEF Foundation, MP3tunes, PAS International and numerous individuals dedicated to the fight against drunk driving.

"The AWAKE Community is a welcome organization in the fight against impaired driving," said U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), a member of the Caucus. "They are bringing together all the parties involved in the fight against drunk driving. This one evening will re-energize efforts to fight this deadly epidemic."

For additional information please visit www.awakecommunity.org.

Contact: Cathy Gillen (410) 547-1602 office (443) 463-4449 cell

Source: AWAKE Community

CONTACT: Cathy Gillen, office, +1-410-547-1602, or cell, +1-443-463-4449, for AWAKE Community

Web site: http://www.mp3tunes.com/

Web site: http://www.emilyrichardsmusic.com/

Web site: http://www.awakecommunity.org/

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