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A ceremonial tree planting in honor of area victims and survivors of drunk driving crashes was held on June 23, 2009 in Kennedy Park within sight of Saint Anne's Hospital. The special ceremony was co-sponsored by the DRIVE (Drug/alcohol Related Injuries from Vehicular Events) Program of Saint Anne's Hospital and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Victim Services. Initiated in 2004, the DRIVE program provides adults and children who have been victims of drunk or drugged driving crashes with free individual and group counseling, community resource assistance, and outreach services. Specially trained DRIVE staff also provides outreach activities to high schools and colleges in the Greater Fall River area and hospitals, physicians, police departments and others who may encounter victims of drunk driving. The DRIVE program is funded by the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance through the Drunk Driving Trust Fund and is a free service. For more information, call 508-674-5600, ext. 2283.
 

(Top row, left and center) Fall River Street Tree Planting coordinator Mary Ann Wordell and Saint Anne's Hospital public relations coordinator Anne Ferreira watch as Steve Plaski and Ed Sousa place the Princeton Elm tree. (Top row, right) Youth trauma clinicians Charlene Ginalski, Desiree Pero-Gillpatrick and Jessica Martin talk with Fall River Police Department Special Operations traffic officer Steve Burt during the planting. (Middle row, left) DRIVE clinical coordinator Jennifer Salem-Russo shovels the last covering of soil around the tree. (Middle row, right) Jennifer Salem-Russo, Karin Wood and Massachusetts Mothers Against Drunk Driving executive director Mary McNamara watch as Steve Plaski and Ed Sousa place the stone plaque at the base of the tree. (Bottom row, left) Ms. Salem-Russo is joined by Officer Burt, Dan Cooper of the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, Ms. McNamara, Ms. Pero-Gillpatrick, Terry Barillaro and Paula Beaulier of SSTAR's Driver Alcohol Education Program, Ms. Ginalski, VOCA clinicians Charlene Ginalski and Jessica Martin, and Karin Wood. (Bottom row, right) Ms. Salem-Russo leads the group in a moment of silence in memory of victims and comments on the toll that drunk driving crashes have taken over the years and on the hope that education will prevent future instances. (Bottom row, center) The plaque reads "In Memory of Survivors & Victims of Drunk Driving Crashes."

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