Ontario - arrive alive DRIVE SOBER honours Niagara Region high school teacher

TORONTO , Dec. 18 /CNW/ - Since the late eighties, community groups have been meeting to address the problem of impaired driving and during these years arrive alive DRIVE SOBER began; its group was founded by Peter Wong who was Mayor of Sudbury at the time. Peter was a dedicated, engaging individual who committed his efforts to prevent impaired driving; he passed away in 1998 and since that time we have presented this award annually in his honour.

This year Patti Beck is being honoured for her years of volunteer work with local schools and Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID). Her nomination came from Region Niagara Public Health and the award will be presented today at Notre Dame High School.

The nomination stated: Ms. Patti Beck has devoted countless hours of personal time over the past 15 years as a secondary school staff advisor for the Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID) group at the schools where she has worked.

Patti has been a leader in the Niagara region in her work with impaired driving prevention, bringing students to the provincial and national OSAID conferences and mentoring other advisors who were starting new groups. She has been a member of several community advisory committees including the Port Colborne Wainfleet Healthy Lifestyles Coalition and Niagara Drug Awareness Committee, sharing her knowledge and expertise with others working in this field and inspiring others to share their time and talent to assist youth to improve road safety and reduce impaired driving.

Patti has been involved as an OSAID Board Member working with the Student Advisory Committee and Adult Board of Directors and has made significant contributions at the adult / student OSAID Inc. meetings.

In addition to Patti's volunteering in Niagara, and on the OSAID Board, she has helped organize and run the OSAID provincial conferences for many years.

Impaired driving fatalities have decreased over the last twenty years but impaired driving continues to be the most preventable cause of death especially of teens and young adults and at times Niagara Region has seen higher rates of impaired driving collisions than other regions of Ontario.

The award will be presented by students and colleagues on December 18th: 10:00 a.m. at Notre Dame as part of a Christmas assembly.

For further information: Media Contact: Anne Leonard, [phone]