MADD and State Farm Announce Winners of National Video Contest for Underage Drinking Prevention
Phoenix (PRWEB) March 04, 2014 -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Presenting Sponsor State Farm announced today that Keegan Carlson, age 17, is the national student winner of the third annual Power of You(th)® Video Contest. The contest asked teens around the country to create a 15-second Instagram video that answered the question, “If you don’t drink alcohol today, what could your tomorrow be?” Carlson is a senior at Ironwood High School in Glendale, Ariz., where today’s announcement and $1,500 check presentation took place. His winning video (http://youtu.be/DEiVlFAuIhc) shows that he can be anything he wants to be — an engineer, an actor, an athlete, an artist, a dancer, an architect — if he chooses to stay away from alcohol today.
Ricardo Estrada Junior High School in Horizon City, Texas, will also receive $1,500 as the national school winner for having nine student video contest entries — the most entries received from any one school. In addition, Caelan “Cal” Barr, a 17-year-old junior at Denver School of the Arts, will receive $250 for his two runner-up videos (http://youtu.be/uNGRWvlF_4o and http://youtu.be/YOrxnObq6_w), which both send powerful messages about underage drinking prevention.
“It’s so wonderful to see young people creatively presenting such an important underage drinking prevention message to their peers through the Power of You(th) Video Contest,” said MADD National President Jan Withers. “MADD is thankful for State Farm’s support of this program that empowers teens to avoid alcohol before age 21.”
"State Farm celebrates young people like Keegan, who are positively influencing their peers to make safe and healthy decisions," said Joe Strupek, Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs for State Farm. "These student videos may inspire others to make good choices and avoid the dangers of underage drinking."
The video contest is part of MADD’s Power of You(th) program to empower teens to say no to alcohol and never get in a car with someone who’s been drinking. Carlson and Barr’s videos were selected from numerous entries submitted by teens across the country, based on creativity, quality and overall underage drinking prevention message.
Teen alcohol use kills about 4,700 people each year — more than all other illegal drugs combined. However, it’s important for teens to know that even though it seems like everyone is drinking, research shows that only one in six teens binge drinks, which means that five out of six teens don’t binge drink. The Power of You(th) program includes a teen-focused booklet, called The 411 on Teen Drinking, which provides teens with this information and more, empowering them to make good choices and resist alcohol.
To learn more about the Power of You(th) program or to download the booklet, visit http://www.madd.org/powerofyouth.
About Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Founded by a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) is the nation’s largest nonprofit working to protect families from drunk driving and underage drinking. With the help of those who want a safer future, MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® will end this danger on America’s roads. PowerTalk 21® is the national day for parents to talk with their kids about alcohol, using the proven strategies of Power of Parents® to reduce the risk of underage drinking. And as one of the largest victim services organizations in the U.S., MADD also supports drunk and drugged driving victims and survivors at no charge, serving one person every 8.6 minutes through local MADD victim advocates and at 1-877-MADD-HELP. Learn more at http://www.madd.org or by calling 1-877-ASK-MADD.
About State Farm
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 43 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.
Anna Duerr, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, http://www.madd.org, +1 (877) 275-6233, [email protected]
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