The Washington Redskins Charitable Organization and Diageo have announced the start of the Redskins Safeties Tackle for Safety<\/i> program, an initiative that donates $100 dollars for each tackle made by a Redskins Safety this year. <\/p>\n
The $100 donation is part of the Redskins\u2019 Responsibility is a Team Sport<\/i> initiative, a program that promotes responsibility by the team and the community. The program is overseen by Ken Harvey, the Pro Bowl linebacker and current Redskins Director of Responsibility. Harvey stated the donations will all go to the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, or WRAP. <\/p>\n
Specifically, all of the money donated by Diageo to WRAP will be earmarked for the SoberRide<\/i> initiative, a program founded in 1993 that provides free cab rides during holiday periods where drinking and driving are the most prevalent. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are going to have fun in the holidays and they\u2019re going to do things but Diageo\u2019s message is to drink responsibly. If you go out and you have a good time\u201d Harvey said, adding, \u201cthen the responsible thing not only for yourself but for someone else on the road, is to get a taxi ride home and if its free, its all that much better.\u201d<\/p>\n
One-third of all traffic fatalities in the Washington Metropolitan area are a result of drinking and driving. Diageo, the Redskins and WRAP aim to work together to promote responsibility in drinking in order to fight these tragic, but avoidable incidents. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are going to drink. It\u2019s a choice, but there is a responsibility involved with that. If you\u2019re going to drink and you\u2019re going to have a good time, just be responsible. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to know when to say enough is enough, sometimes you\u2019ve got to know when to say, \u2018I\u2019m too drunk to drive home, so help me\u2019,\u201d Harvey stated.<\/p>\n
This goal of this initiative is not only to raise money for a noble cause, but to raise public awareness that there are options out there for someone that finds themselves in a bar or a club with no business getting behind the wheel. <\/p>\n
According to Harvey, the program is going well: \u201cFor every tackle that a safety makes, and that\u2019s free or strong safety, it\u2019s $100, and so far, they\u2019ve added up to about $8,500. That\u2019s pretty impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: TheHogs.net would like to thank Ken Harvey for taking a few minutes to talk to us about this initiative. We also took the opportunity to discuss other topics pertaining to Harvey himself and the Washington Redskins. Watch the blog section for a full transcript of our conversation.<\/i><\/p>\n
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Scott Hurrey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"