America's Trash Talks to Keep Kids Alive

    

 

"America's Trash Talks to 

Keep Kids Alive"

"America's Trash Talks to Keep Kids Alive" is the latest initiative from Keep Kids Alive Drive 25. GEICO is on board as our first national sponsor and the AAA Cornhusker Motor Club in our first state partner - Nebraska. Initiatives are spreading quickly, including:

• Colonial Heights, VA
• Phoenix, AZ
• Rocklin, CA
• Lithia, FL
• O'Fallon, IL
• Omaha, NE
• Millbourne, PA
• Oro Valley, AZ

The premise is simple; to get the "Keep Kids Alive" message out on the side of every trash can in America - both curbside and in alleys. Messages include:

 

 

We welcome you to partner – through your neighborhood/homeowners association, local trash hauler, business, school, faith community, or civic organization (or all of these organizations working together).

How?

Through use of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25®, Be Aware! Drive With Care®, No Need To Speed®, and Check Your Speed® decals. The goal is to decal every trash can on every neighborhood street and alleyway in America

Why?

To reduce motor vehicle deaths and injuries. It's that simple - get all citizens involved in sending out one or more of the "Keep Kids Alive" safety messages in order to create safer roadway environments for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists of all ages, as well as motorists themselves. (The City of Oro Valley, AZ applied these decals to trash cans and saw average speeds plummet to 24.5 mph on residential streets - a 13% decrease.)

What is needed?

Partners - environmental waste companies, insurance companies, local businesses, schools, faith communities, and civic organizations to partner with Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 in implementing this goal in communities nationwide.

Local Trash Hauler in Escondido, CA affixed

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25® 

signs to their trucks, making them rolling billboards inviting all to slow down on residential streets. Papillion Sanitation, a Waste Connections Company, will join in with rolling billboards in Spring 2013

What is the role of partners?

Examples include the following:

• Environmental waste companies that provide trash and recycling bins to municipalities and neighborhoods add one or more of the Keep Kids Alive messages via decals on the side of all trash/recycling bin.
• Insurance companies utilize agents to distribute decals to policyholders. These decals can integrate company logos into decals in order to recognize sponsorship
• Businesses can sponsor decals and distribute through customer service, check out lanes, service counters, as well as through employees. Businesses can be recognized by integrating company logos into decals to recognize sponsorship
• Schools and civic organizations can distribute decals to families and members. Civic organizations can partner as local/regional/national sponsors as well

How can your business, school, civic organization get involved?

Get started today by ordering decals at “America’s Trash Talks”  For more information, contact Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 at 402-334-1391 or kkad25@kkad25.org.

We look forward to partnering with you as "America's Trash Talks to Keep Kids Alive"

The "Will" to Drive to Keep Kids Alive!

  

www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org

What was I thinking? 

The "will" to drive safely is critical each time any one of us gets behind the wheel. Will means we actually think about what we are about to do. 

What if...

...every time any one of us gets behind the wheel, our first thoughts are, "I am going to drive safely. I am going to...

...walk around the vehicle to make sure no children are hiding in blind spots

...turn off my cell phone and set it aside until I reach my destination

...buckle up and make sure all passengers are buckled up as well

...observe all posted speed limits, and adjust downward due to presence of children at play, cyclists, road and weather conditions

...create space between my vehicle and others around me, so I have time to react to the driving behaviors of others

...use my blinker to signal all turns and lane changes

...stop - take three to see at all stop signs regardless of whether or not anyone is present - it is my chance to practice making complete stops so I am ready the one time that someone does seem to appear out of nowhere

...observe all traffic signals and traffic signs

...think of the ones I love, the ones who are waiting for me to return home safely.

Ask the questions, "Who do I love" and "who loves me?" May the faces of all the loved ones you picture in your mind give you the "will" to drive to keep kids (of all ages) alive and to make safe driving behaviors a lifetime habit. 

Donate to support our mission at KKAD25 Donate

Your generous giving keeps kids living.

Emergency Educational Engagement Now!

Emergency Educational Engagement Now!

In the wake of news that Traffic Deaths Rose 5% in 2012, now is the moment to take a fresh look at the “3 E’s” of traffic safety.

Typically these “E’s” include:

Engineering – building and maintaining safe roadways

Enforcement – enforcing motor vehicle laws

Education – teaching motorists the skills needed to behave safely behind the wheel – and reinforcing these skills through ongoing education

As a traffic safety education non-profit, Keep Kids Alive Drive 25^® advocates a renewed focus on the 3^rd E – Education. Let’s phrase it this way:

Emergency – After 7 years of reduced deaths on America’s roadways, 2012 shows a 5% increase in deaths – over 1,600 more loved ones died in 2012 than in 2011 – an average of 5 a day. This indeed constitutes an emergency when it comes to traffic safety education.

Education – We need renewed focus on teaching safe driving behaviors. The fact that fatalities and injuries are on the rise is evidence that many of us do not know how to drive safely. We may say that we know how to put aside distractions, follow the speed limit, buckle up, create safe following distance, and observe stop signs and all manner of cautionary signage and signals. However, the data demonstrates that we have not learned to put what we may say we know into action by virtue of our behaviors behind the wheel.

In the words of Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do.” If we observe speed limits, stop at stop signs, put aside cell phones, buckle up, and so many other necessary behaviors to keep ourselves and others safe on and along roadways, then we truly do act as the safe drivers we say we know how to be.

Engagement – Make 2013 the year when your community, neighborhood, school, business, civic organization, or faith community makes the commitment to become engaged in education towards safe driving behaviors. Keep Kids Alive Drive 25^® exists to assist and support you in your educational engagement efforts. Learn more about how to begin at KKAD25 – Get Involved. The life you save may be yours or that of someone you love. Call or e-mail today about hosting an educational event in your community – 402-334-1391 or kkad25@kkad25.org.

It's About Kids! It's About Safety!  It's About Caring! It's About Time!®

Safe travels,
Tom Everson
Executive Director
Keep Kids Alive Drive 25^®A Non-Profit "For Action" Organization 501(c)(3)
402-334-1391
12418 C Street
Omaha, NE 68144
www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org 

Tamara Hill's "Run to Remember" to Keep Kids Alive

Tamara Hill completes her "Run to Remember" in honor of 

Tim Hill and all loved ones 

  who have died due to a traffic incident.
2 videos share her story

Run to Remember #1
Run to Remember #2

Tim Hill, Forever 12

Tamara and Family 

Learn more about the "Run to Remember"

Make your next race a "Run to Remember" 

to support the mission of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25

2013 Resolutions - It's All About "Those Who Really Count"

Rules of the Road are all about Relationships

2013 is upon us. Let's all resolve to make a difference for those who "really count" in our lives - our family and friends.Remember that the rules of the road exist to keep relationships alive – with our children, with parents, with brothers and sisters, with friends. Safe driving is all about our relationships with everyone else on the road – each person we pass on the road, as well as those in our own vehicle, is loved by many. So let’s commit to:

Observe the speed limit, and slow in the presence of children at play, cyclists, pedestrians, and when weather dictates we do so.

Observe stop signs, stop lights, and all other traffic signs and signals.

Practice safe space management 

Hang up and drive, help keep everyone alive 

(this includes hands-free devices)

Buckle up everyone, every trip, no matter how short the distance

In short, Be Aware! Drive With Care® 

throughout 2013, and beyond.

It's About Kids! It's About Safety!  It's About Caring! It's About Time!®

Safe travels always,

Tom Everson
Keep Kids Alive Drive 25® - A Non-Profit "For Action" Organization 501(c)(3)
402-334-1391
12418 C Street
Omaha, NE 68144www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org
Donate to support our mission at KKAD25 Donate. Your generous giving keeps kids living. Thank you!

An Open Letter, Apology, and Invitation to Keep Kids Alive!

KKAD25 Supporters in Georgetown, TX

Dear Friends of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25,

I appreciate you taking a few minutes to read this letter all the way through.

At this time of year, and even throughout the year, we all receive many requests to donate in support of great causes – locally, nationally, and internationally. As a non-profit 501c3 organization, you all know that I have sent out plenty of requests for support for the mission of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25.

I apologize if these requests seem too numerous at times throughout the year. I am acutely aware that every ask may seem an uninvited intrusion into your time and your resources as well. That is what prompts this letter.

As I am aware that donation requests can come off as unwanted solicitation, I also am aware on a daily basis of the need for funds to keep Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 viable, as the need to find funds tugs at my heart. In 2012 these funds have come to us in four ways:

•  Personal donations = $17,975.00 (Unrestricted individual donations as well as for annual Run to Remember)
• Corporate sponsorships = $15,300
• Corporate/Private foundation donations = $6,950
•  Revenue from sale of KKAD25 yard signs, streets signs, & trash can decals = $12,225.00

Total Funds = $52,450 Generated by 180 individual and 12 corporate donors. Although limited in numbers, truly our supporters are a generous lot.

Snapshot of what Donor Generosity has accomplished:

1,400+ = Number of communities served since 1998. This includes 49 U.S. States, 3 Canadian Provinces, an Australian State, and the Bahamas.

80+ = Number of communities served in 2012 (start-up resources, on-site consultations, community presentations, support of school-based initiatives, and more). 

31 = Number of states represented by these communities, in addition to first campaign in Australia

61 = Families served through Annual “Run to Remember”

5 = Communities identified to initiate GEICO sponsored pilots for “America’s Trash Talks to Keep Kids Alive”

1 = 1st KKAD25 5K Run/Walk to Remember in Omaha

Even with the generosity of current donors, as we head towards 2013 we need to expand the number of individual donors, corporate donors/sponsors, and corporate/private foundations committed to growing the mission of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25. From Census data we know that over 310 million potential donors could make a decision to support Keep Kids Alive Drive 25. Our board of directors has set an ambitious goal of $225,000.  We must raise more money in order to truly realize our two-fold mission, which is: 

1) To serve communities in creating comprehensive traffic safety education campaigns that engage residents as front-line solutions to the problems we create - speeding, stop-sign running, etc. in neighborhoods, and beyond. (First and foremost our goal is to help reduce the 90+ loved ones - on average - who die each day on America's roadways)

2) To serve and support families who experience the death of a loved one due to a traffic incident.

In part, money raised will go to establish two unique support systems for communities and families.

1) To establish a fund to visit directly with families of victims of traffic incidents to support them in setting up legacies to preserve the love and memory of their loved ones - events, memorials, foundations, etc.

2) To establish an education fund to allow for on-site presentations and consultations for communities/organizations committed to initiating KKAD25 campaigns.

As we work towards these goals, as always we are here to serve whoever contacts us for support, whether in developing and implementing a local “Keep Kids Alive” campaign or to support a family who has experienced the death of a loved one due to a traffic incident. We do all we can regardless of limits of our current funding. We are driven by the reality that on average over 90 loved ones lose their lives to traffic incidents each day in America. Every one of these loved ones is someone's daughter, son, brother, sister, friend. 

With this in mind, I invite you to consider coming on board as a donor to Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 through a tax-deductible donation by December 31^st. There are three ways you can do so:

    1.   Click on KKAD25 Donate

    2.   Send a check to:

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25

12418 C Street

Omaha, NE 68144

    3.   Become a monthly donor in one of two ways:

-Donate on-line through KKAD25 Network for Good

-Via a monthly draft through your checking account. You can set this up through your bank.

I welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly about any questions or opportunities you see for 2013. In the meantime, know that your generous giving does indeed keep kids living.

Safe travel always,

Tom Everson

Executive Director & Founder

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25^® - A Non-Profit "For Action" Organization 501(c)(3)

12418 C Street

Omaha, NE 68144

402-334-1391 Office

www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org

It's About Kids! It's About Safety!  It's About Caring! It's About Time!®

It’s Giving Tuesday Across America!

Four ways you can give to help Keep Kids Alive on Giving Tuesday, and throughout the year.

1.   Become a donor to support the mission of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25. You can make your tax-deductible donation in any amount at KKAD25 Donate. A personal Thank You Note will arrive in your mail within the week. All gifts of $10.00 or more will receive complimentary KKAD25 trashcan decals to help take the message curbside. Thank you! Your generous giving keeps kids living.

2.   Give the gift of life to those you love and all others on and around roadways by virtue of your safe driving behaviors. Check out how you can give at “Rules of the Road are all about Relationships.”

3.   Give the gift of a Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 campaign to your neighborhood, school, business, or the whole community. All the tools to help you get started are free at KKAD25-Get Started. Call 402-334-1391 to talk about possibilities.

4.   Give the gift of a Keep Kids Alive Drive 25®, Be Aware! Drive With Care®, No Need to Speed® or Check Your Speed® Yard Sign or Trash Can Decals to a family member or neighbor. Order today at KKAD25 Signs or KKAD25 Decals.

Check out the good your giving has done in the past year at 2012 in Review.

Thanks for you support. Because of you, Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 the mission lives.

Safe travels,

Tom

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25® - A Non-Profit "For Action" Organization 501(c)(3)
402-334-1391
12418 C Street
Omaha, NE 68144
www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org