STOP DUI downright mad over MADD’S fund-raising

Diana Sahagun

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 11:07 a.m.

A local group, STOP DUI, is warning Las Vegas Valley residents to reconsider before participating in a national MADD telemarketing fund-raiser.

"MADD is attempting to financially rape the citizens of Clark County," the executive director of STOP DUI said.

MADD is conducting a local fund-raiser by calling residents and requesting donations. But STOP DUI executive director Sandy Heverly says when she was a member of the local MADD chapter four years ago, the money raised here didn't go to the local chapter or to the community. And she does not intend on letting it happen again.

"We have so many new residents coming into the city, some that aren't familiar with what happened (four years ago). They may think they are helping by donating, that's why we are concerned."

Heverly says she has already taken out two newspaper advertisements stating her claims that the money raised from local citizens will not not go back into the community.

Heverly and other members of the local MADD chapter cut their ties over these alleged practices and formed STOP DUI four years ago. STOP DUI is a Nevada grass-roots nonprofit organization dedicated to stopping the violent crime of driving under the influence and assisting victims of this crime. It does not solicit donations from the public, using money from corporate and private donors, and through victim impact panel, where first and second DUI offenders pay $30 for a program designed to reduce recidivism.

"We are not competing for funds, we do not solicit funds from the public," she said. "We are alerting the public to what the money is being used for, and it is not going to help the victims."

Gene Gonzales, owner of Gonzales Upholstery, declined MADD's recent request for a donation. He said he was shocked when Heverly later told him the money he might have donated may not have gone to Las Vegas.

"I thought that was pretty ridiculous when she told me," he said. "If I had been in the position to give a donation, I probably would have."

Tresa Coe, assistant director of public relations for the MADD national office in Texas, said she could not comment on the specifics of what happened four years ago, but did comment on the present telemarketing campaigns.

"Out of all fund-raising nationally, a percentage goes to the national office for overhead, managing ... but the other monies go back to the field. The exact money raised in Las Vegas doesn't necessarily go back to Vegas, it is based on the population of the city."

Coe said larger cities would receive a higher portion of the donations and that there is a formula to divide up the money.

"Funds which go to the national level still benefit local chapters because we distribute things like materials to them."

Coe still encourages people to continue to donate to MADD.

"We encourage people to contribute through volunteering or money, to support our cause. We can't say all the money raised in one area goes to that one area, but it still serves our overall mission. It makes sense that way."