In December, East Haven-based Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) received word that to close out its 35th anniversary year, representatives from the organization would ring the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Opening Bell. One week later, 15 representatives from both the New York and Connecticut offices traveled to the Financial District for the honor.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Johanna Krebs, a program manager for MADD Connecticut who lives in Northford. “Knowing it’s such an iconic place and being a part of it was incredible. Everywhere you look, it’s something you’ve seen on TV or heard people talk about so to be in the center of it made me stop you for a minute. It was really cool.”

The invite for the Connecticut office, which is located in East Haven, to participate came from Colleen Sheehey-Church, who is MADD’s national president and a Madison native.

“MADD is honored to be invited by the New York Stock Exchange to ring the Opening Bell and remind everyone to ring in the New Year safely,” said Sheehey-Church, whose son Dustin was killed by an underage drunk and drugged driver. “This is an amazing way to celebrate MADD’s 35th anniversary year and the more than 320,000 lives that have been saved as a result of our efforts to prevent drunk driving.”

Krebs, a 10-year veteran of MADD Connecticut’s office, was not only excited about the opportunity to visit the NYSE, but to further publicize MADD’s mission and accomplishments over its 35-year history.

“In looking at [the NYSE] calendar, every day they have a different organization to ring the bell. Usually it’s one that is announcing that’s being entered onto stock exchange, but they wanted to commemorate our 35th anniversary,” said Krebs, who woke up at 3:30 a.m. to arrive to the NYSE by 8 a.m. “After a reception and ceremony, they presented MADD with a New York Stock Exchange medallion and brought us down to the floor. A group went up to the podium and the remainder of group was on floor watching the clock. At 9:30, the bell rang and everybody cheered and clapped.”

Krebs was impressed with the building, though she was surprised by the “calm and cool” atmosphere. Everywhere she looked was evidence of MADD’s presence with its logo and slogan—”No More Victims”—on signs and screens everywhere.

Despite already being seven hours into her day, Krebs work was only just beginning after the bell was rung. She took the train to Fairfield for a press conference with Uber about a New Year’s Eve promo code that would benefit MADD. She noted that MADD and Uber are “always working together.”

Another initiative in full swing is the Tie One on for Safety campaign, which has been running since 1986. The campaign is especially stressed during the holiday season and involves displaying a red ribbon, magnet, or window decal to remind others to designate a non-drinking driver.

“You can designate a driver, use Uber or Lyft—there are so many opportunities for you not to get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking,” said Krebs.

Looking back on the 35th anniversary year, Krebs was proud to point out many of the organizations accomplishments, including the unveiling of prototypes of vehicles that will include Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety at the national MADD conference in June.

On Dec. 3, 2015, MADD held its first-ever National Day of Remembrance to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of people impacted by drunk and drugged driving and underage drinking.

“Over 10,000 people every year are killed and another 290,000 are injured as a result of drunk driving,” said Sheehey-Church in a press release. “Countless loved ones are left behind to cope with these tragedies and rebuild their lives. MADD’s National Day of Remembrance is a chance for communities across the nation to come together and offer support and comfort to those who need it, during the holidays and beyond.”

Krebs pointed out that MADD’s campaigns have a proven track record as there was a “slight reduction” in alcohol-related fatalities from 2013 to 2014 and that the number has been reduced by about half since MADD was founded 35 years ago.

“As a national organization, there were a lot of big steps forward to stop the crime of drunk driving, which puts some excitement and some fuel to that fire to continue our mission,” said Krebs. “After cutting the number of alcohol-related fatalities by almost half in 35 years, our hope is that we can go wall the way with it.”

For information, visit madd.org/ct.