The neon-colored shirts seniors wore last Tuesday May 15 projected happiness, but the occasion was anything but — the day commemorated the death of Magruder students Haeley McGuire and Spencer Datt and Magruder graduate Johnny Hoover, all of whom passed away last year in a drunk driving accident.
The yellow shirts worn by seniors are emblazoned with the words “Don’t drink and drive” and a drawing of two people holding hands McGuire drew for her younger sister.
The shirts were donated by The Happiness Foundation, an organization created by McGuire’s parents and the friends of the accident victims. The organization aims to reduce the problem of drunk driving, save lives and spread happiness through the shirts.
Seniors received the shirts at the senior picnic after signing a pledge not to drive drunk and not to get in a car with a drunk driver. An event organized by Art teacher Nancy Mornini SGA invited seniors to wear their shirts.
“I wanted to make a statement,” senior Katie Wollmer said. “When someone in the community dies it has a huge impact. It’s devastating, so the less it happens, the better.”
Mornini’s daughter Meg went to Magruder and knew the accident victims and Kevin Coffay, the driver of the car. She wanted to spread awareness to Whitman students. The Happiness Foundation has now sold over ten thousand shirts. The money to print the shirts has come entirely from donations, according to Mornini.
“The McGuire’s hope was that everybody who signed the pledge could get a t-shirt and not to have to pay for it,” she said. “I wanted our students at Whitman to be aware of what had happened because it was just one mistake Kevin made and his family’s life has been shattered. I don’t want anyone to have to go through what any of those families have had to.”
The Happiness Foundation recently held a vigil at the accident site to commemorate the one year anniversary. Meg Mornini has worked closely with the foundation by handing out shirts and helping to promote its message at James Madison University, where she is a student.
“All three of the people who passed away were incredible. It’s such a great thing to start such a positive movement coming from such a terrible accident,” she said. “My favorite part is that they are trying to make drinking and driving socially unacceptable because, sadly, it’s such a norm in our age population”
Last year, Whitman participated in the Every Fifteen Minutes project. It included an assembly and simulation where students had to pretend that their classmates had died in a drunk driving accident. The mission of Team Happiness echoes the sentiments of Every Fifteen Minutes, senior class officer Alex Luta said.
“It’s still an ongoing problem. No matter how much we talk about it, we need to keep reminding people how serious it is,” he said, “I was hoping people would ask me about the shirt and I would tell them the story of these three Magruder students. It actually happened and I was glad I could promote awareness.”
Learn more about The Happiness Foundation at www.Facebook.com/TeamHappiness15 or www.Twitter.com/TeamHappiness15
To contribute to the Happiness Foundation send donations to: THE HAPPINESS FOUNDATION, P.O. Box 5599, Derwood, MD 20855.
