The community of Butte, Montana is MAKING A DIFFERENCE
My name is Leo McCarthy and I am the proud father of two amazing, beautiful daughters. Our oldest Jenna, on this earth, and our youngest Mariah, who is watching over us from above. We lost Mariah on October 28,2007… She and two of her friends were hit from behind by an underage drunk driver as they walked home from a friends house. This unbearable tragedy took place less than one block from our front door. My wife Janice and daughter Jenna heard the emergency vehicles and ran to the crime scene only to watch paramedics work on the other two girls. The next 20 hours was spent saying goodbye to our beloved Mariah as she was on life support awaiting the preparation of donors for her organs. She was and will always be 14 years old…..
Let me tell you a little about Mariah and where she grew up.
Mariah Daye McCarthy lived her life with faith, family, and friends at the center of her heart. She was an old soul with a young heart and had a special outlook on life. She was an observer and deep thinker. Always watching and listening to everything around her. She needed to feel comfortable before she joined in a new activity. She pondered each and every decision before making a move. She never jumped into anything without analyzing each detail thoroughly. She was a friend to anyone who needed one.
She loved her home town, Butte, Montana. Her Irish heritage fit well with Buttes Irish history. Butte is a mining town and has all of the vices that come with it. Copper is one of Buttes most valuable assets. Drinking and Alcohol Abuse has always been an accepted practice and for far too long has been accepted as a rite of passage. If a teen was old enough to work in the mines, he was old enough to stand at the bar with his father after the shift and have a few drinks. Times have moved slowly in Butte and this rite has yet to fade. Teens are still afforded very lenient punishment if they are caught with alcohol and many parents still blame the judge for having to pay the minor in possession fine that is levied. The court reports are littered with DUI offenders who are charged with their 4th, 5th and even 6th DUI infractions. These drunk drivers are exacting their toll on Butte’s other precious asset… its youth!! Every year, Butte suffers the loss of its young people who die as a result of alcohol abuse. In 2007, my daughter and my family paid the price.
On November 1, 2007 Butte turned out for the funeral services of Mariah. At her services I challenged all of Butte, but especially Mariah’s Classmates to stop this nonsense. I issued them a challenge…
I issued them Mariah’s Challenge and I begged of them this….
Let’s strive to be the first graduating class not to drink. Lets prevent drinking and driving from taking any more of Butte’s most valuable asset… it’s YOUTH!!
On November 8th, one week after the funeral services, my brother in law started a blog on the website of Buttes local newspaper. The topic was Mariah’s Challenge and how Butte could start to make a change to a drinking culture that has long been tolerated in Butte.
In the next few days and weeks, some amazing momentum built as concerned people with user names like Spokaneman, Astro, Tire Tart, Family Guy and Foles began to formulate an action plan that would change Butte forever. As momentum grew, so did the active participation. In less than 2 weeks, the blog had over 15,000 hits. Other concerned citizens posted blogs asking how they could help… and out of this an 11 point action list was agreed upon. In the next several weeks, a formal organization called Mariah’s Challenge was assembled. A website was built, logos designed, and a t-shirt design contest was held. The organization created buzz with local media centers and reports and articles of Mariah’s Challenge began to show up on the local television and in the local newspapers. One by one, the 11 item task list was completed…
Unbeknownst to Mariah’s Challenge, the local Health Department had just received a substantial grant to help curb teen drinking in the county. Upon hearing of our organization, they asked Mariah’s Challenge if they could team up with us to help spread the word. In addition, a local DUI task force was assembled consisting of law enforcement, retailers, judges and concerned citizens whose only goal is to reduce the abuse of alcohol in this old mining town.
Mariah’s Challenge is now armed with the might of the people and the support of its Civic Leaders. Finally… change is coming to the Drinking Culture in Butte that has taken so many souls as its result.
Now here is the most amazing part of the assembly of the Mariah’s Challenge organization. In less than 90 days, ALL of the action items were completed via the blog and through e-mails… Ordinary people who were determined to make a difference would log on when they could and pick up the torch. Never was a meeting held, and rarely was there a phone call. Most of the major contributors still do not know what each other looks like or what their last names are. This is truly grassroots. People having had enough finally conceded that the loss of anymore of Butte’s youth was unacceptable….
On Friday February 8, 2008, Mariah’s Challenge will be introduced to the Mining City during the local high school basketball game… This will be the first time in the history of Butte that the silent majority rose up to create positive change that will undoubtedly save countless lives. Beyond the initial launch, town hall meetings will be held to discuss this problem, family oriented events are planned to encourage quality family time without relying on alcohol to celebrate with, and we have a lobbying organization in place to convince law enforcement and Buttes Judicial system to finally take firm action when dealing with habitual DUI offenders.
The story and actions of this community is amazing in this day. If this hard drinking mining town can come together to make a change, how many other communities in need can do the same.
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