They had worked all year for this moment. During the early hours of March 7, 2009, Class of 2006 Barrington High School graduate Jessica Gordon clambered into the van alongside seven of her Connecticut College classmates as they set out toward Logan International Airport.

A pre-med major, Jessica was going to be spending her spring break serving at a medical mission trip in Uganda, organized by her friend Elizabeth “Liz” Durante and another student. All of them had spent countless hours sourcing donated medical supplies, learning the culture and raising the necessary funds to go; soon, that time and energy was finally going to be worth it.

It was a plan cut violently short when the van the eight students were traveling in was struck by a drunk driver on their way to the airport, killing Liz and injuring the rest.

Jessica and Liz’s story was just one of the few that were shared at Mocktails, the annual event hosted this year by Mt. Hope High School’s Students Taking Action Against Negative Decisions (STAAND) club last Wednesday, April 10, in the school’s cafeteria.

Together with five other middle and high schools, members of STAAND sought to honor those lives now lost or permanently altered by instances of driving under the influence.

A cruel case of irony

Like the students making up STAAND, it was almost a cruel sense of irony that Mt. Hope’s assigned victims for the event, Jessica and Liz, were both strong advocates against drug and alcohol abuse at the time of the accident. While a student at Barrington High School, Jessica had regularly participated in both Mothers Against and Students Against Drunk Driving events; Liz had been living in a substance-free dormitory while at Connecticut College.

Yet not even they could prevent the actions of Daniel Musser, a then-enlisted member of the Navy who had spent the night before the fatal crash drinking at a nightclub at the nearby Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort before getting in his car and driving the wrong way without headlights down I-395.

“They all said, ‘we were doing the right thing for the right reasons,’” said Jessica’s mother, Claudia Gordon. “‘How could something like this happen?’ ”

For years afterwards, Jessica and the other survivors of the crash grappled with guilt as they mourned the loss of their friend and questioned why it was her and not them. It not only impacted those directly involved in the accident, but the lives of those around them as well.

“Vicarious trauma is very real, and we dismiss it,” said Francie Mantak, victim advocate for MADD RI.

The statistics are sobering

Unfortunately, the Gordons are just one of the thousands of families each year struggling with these very issues; according to MADD’s website, 10,874 people died in 2017 alone as a result of drunk driving accidents, while an additional 300,000 were injured.

A preventable problem with devastating effects, it has impacted a wide variety of individuals, including the five other victims honored Wednesday night: Rory Weichbrod, a marathon runner killed while crossing the street in 2010; Stephen Matthew Dupre, both a poet and an avid sailor before his untimely death; Marsha Bowman, a mother who lost her life while on her way to take her daughter and friend to the mall; Lt. Robert “Officer Bob” Cabral, a Swansea police officer killed by an intoxicated volunteer firefighter in 2005; and 6-year-old Jillian Charron, the inspiration behind Rhode Island’s “Jillian’s Law,” guaranteeing at least a five-year sentence for any person convicted in a DWI fatal crash. 

“When you hear a statistic, you don’t really think how often it really is,” said Makayla Soares, a junior at Mt. Hope. “When you hear multiple people tell their stories all at once, it really just hits you.”

Celebrating lives lost

While the stories themselves may have been somber, the Mocktails event itself served more as a celebration of remembrance for those impacted by impaired driving. Tasked with crafting the perfect “mocktail” beverage and an accompanying display inspired by their respective victims, students from Mt. Hope, West Warwick, North Providence, Scituate, La Salle and the lone middle school, Curtis Corner, showcased a wide variety of creative exhibitions for judges, MADD members (the group usually hosting the event) and some of the victims’ families to enjoy.

“It’s an event that the students really look forward to,” said Kerri Sousa, STAAND parent advisor.

To honor Ms. Bowman, North Providence centered around her love for baking and gardening, presenting a sunny, floral display that featured her own recipes for a citrusy slush, banana bread and cookies.

Scituate, meanwhile, highlighted Mr. Dupre’s writing talents, printing off some of his pieces for guests to take with them as they sipped “The Dupre Slide” — a chocolate dessert-themed drink decked out with whipped cream, chocolate and caramel drizzle, marshmallows, purple sprinkles — his favorite color — and pirouettes.

La Salle developed “The Siren,” a red, white and blue drink inspired by Lt. Cabral’s service, and West Warwick focused on Mr. Weichbrod’s love for running, encouraging visitors to their table to sign racing flags in commemoration.

Curtis Corner took home the grand prize with their interactive display that featured Jillian’s love for the outdoors, mini “dirt” dessert cups and a pink and purple glittery drink, while Mt. Hope’s station, the Elizabeth Durante Medical Clinic — featuring Jessica’s inspired beverage, the holiday-themed “Don’t Take Life for Pomegranted” — won the People’s Choice Award.

Lessons for life

For the members of STAAND, participating in events such as Mocktails never becomes any less emotional. Yet it has also empowered them to enact change, not only in their own schools, but in their communities as well. Junior Sean Palumbo is involved with Tobacco Free Rhode Island, currently in the process of helping to write a model policy for use in middle and high schools, while both Makayla and junior Katie Sousa stated they feel more confident in discussing controversial public health topics, like vaping and marijuana and opioid use.

“We’re not shy to tell an adult what they’re putting inside their body, what they’re doing to themselves,” Makayla said.

As for Ms. Gordon — today, expecting her first grandchild later this summer — seeing the work that students put in year after year, even a decade after her daughter’s accident, helps in her own healing process.

“To know that Liz’s legacy means something and that people talk about her, think about her, are making a tribute to Jessica as well, just really touches my heart every year.”