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It is a scourge of our society today — people getting behind the wheel of their vehicles and driving away with too much alcohol in their system.

Drinking and driving is a deadly match resulting in tens of thousands
of deaths and injuries on America’s roads each year. Most noticeably, the holiday season is the time of the year when accidents are more prevalent, particularly as party-goers welcome in the new year.

Our nation’s governors are doing their part to crack down on drunk driving and are supporting the national “Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” holiday drunk driving enforcement crackdown.

According to Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Chairman Vernon F. Betkey Jr., “State highway safety agencies are aggressively participating in this year’s effort. State law enforcement partners will be making a very visible enforcement presence by increasing their drunken driving checkpoints and saturation patrols. GHSA members are also purchasing paid advertising and conducting a variety of awareness events to remind drunk drivers that there’s zero tolerance this holiday season. Those citizens who may selfishly consider driving drunk should know that they will be pulled over and the consequences will be severe.”

State efforts will complement NHTSA’s $7 million dollar “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit.” advertising campaign. The holiday crackdown is organized by NHTSA and supported by GHSA, MADD and The International Association of Chiefs of Police as well as countless local organizations.

A sampling of state holiday crackdown efforts are posted online at:
http://www.ghsa.org/html/projects/OTLUA/holiday08.html.

State drunk driving laws are also posted online at:
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/impaired_laws.html.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 992 people were killed in December 2007 due to crashes that involved a drunk driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. That level is above the legal limit in every state and the District of Columbia.

So before you head out on the roads this holiday season, decide how much alcohol you are planning to drink and bring along someone with you who isn’t drinking. Drunk driving is a killer — don’t be a part of the problem this holiday season.

Source: Governors Highway Safety Association

Photo Credit: Konrad Baranski

Donating a car for charity use can be done any time of the year — the National Kidney Foundation has added an incentive for you to do it before the year comes to a close.

You can give a gift that can give life by donating your car to the National Kidney Foundation this holiday season.

I’m of the mindset that if a charitable organization is really good, then I should give to it more than once, even frequently if it is for a cause that I believe in. Why not support what you stand for and wholeheartedly at that?

One general cause that interests me is wellness, particularly when good health is threatened by life challenging injuries or diseases. No person is more helpless than a sick child or an aged adult, especially one incapacitated as a result of their illness.

Kidney disease is one affliction that can strike anyone, at anytime, no matter what their age or previous health condition was. People routinely died from the disease, but thanks to modern scientific and medical advances, death is no longer inevitable. However, the costs for treating kidney disease can far outstrip insurance coverage, forcing people to wait for or ration treatment, which can be dangerous.

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has a rich heritage of helping the afflicted through the prevention of kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. This kind of work takes money and one of the chief ways that the NKF raises money is through donations of used cars.

When the NKF receives a new car for donation, they turn around and sell the car and keep the proceeds to fund their work. Donors get a receipt from the NKF after the sale has been completed letting them know how much money was raised through the auction. It is that amount that donors can list on their income tax form per IRS guidelines.

The NKF program is so successful that over the course of one year, Kidney Cars recycles 15,000 cars, a total of 60,000 tires and a staggering 30,000,000 million pounds of steel. These cars are put to better use than where most old cars would end up: in the junkyard.

To encourage donations from now until the end of the year, KCF is making donors eligible to win one of 25 prizes, including the Grand Prize — a weekend for four at the Pebble Beach golf resort in California. Donors may also get a chance to win $25,000 in cash or a year’s worth of gas. Either way, your donation is critical at this time.

Since the program began 25 years ago, more than 650,000 used vehicles have pumped a total of $150 million into life-saving programs, including free kidney screenings for those at risk, research, public and professional education and camps for children on dialysis. I’ve had the privilege of donating three vehicles and plan to donate additional cars in the future.

Source: National Kidney Foundation

About the Author:

Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in Cary, North Carolina. Matt is a contributing writer for Andy’s Auto Sport an aftermarket supplier of quality parts including custom Cadillac STS intakes and Cadillac STS lambo doors.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-profit-organizations-articles/helping-the-sick-one-car-at-a-time-641370.html