By Claire Lowe
Shore News Today

OCEAN CITY — About 2,000 participants and 100 volunteers showed up at Carey Stadium in Ocean City Sunday, Oct. 6 for the third annual HERO Walk to promote designated drivers.

Last year the event raised $125,000 for the HERO Campaign. The organization hopes to at least match that amount funding this year.

After hearing from Bill and Muriel Elliott of Egg Harbor Township, who started the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers in honor of their son who was killed by a drunken driver, walkers made their way to the Ocean City Boardwalk for the 5K walk, which attracted individuals and groups from all over South Jersey.

Students from Egg Harbor Township, Ocean City and the Greater Egg Harbor Regional schools and Richard Stockton College participated along with groups of families that have lost a loved one to a drunken driver.

The message of the event was to encourage the use of a designated driver to avoid drunken driving tragedies.

“It’s not ‘Don’t drink,’ it’s ‘Use a designated driver,’” said Beth Henchy of Galloway, whose nephew, Kevin Ade, 19, of Galloway was killed by a drunken driver in 2007. Henchy said that people make plans every day on what they will wear or where they will go, and stressed that they also make a plan to have a designated driver when drinking.