The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists hosts a Victim Benefit Event every year to raise funds for our Victim Benefit Fund. This fund is for victims who have been injured or killed by impaired, reckless, or distracted drivers.

I am one of five victim advocates that work for AAIM, unfortunately, I am also a victim. I lost my 20-year-old son, Christopher J. Krenzer in 2010 because of a drunk and high driver. I became an advocate in 2013 to help support other victims like I was supported, our victim advocates, who accompany victims to court and are emotional support outside of court, identify when a family is in financial distress after a crash, we become their "angels on earth". 

Oftentimes parents who have lost a child, fall behind and are unable to work because the grief is so much in the beginning. They cannot put food on the table and fall behind in their utilities, life literally stops for many from the shock and pain of grief.

Imagine a two-income family loses the husband because a distracted driver was texting, the husband is paralyzed and the defendant has no insurance to cover the needs of the victim. Very quickly the family can become in distress. Money for counseling or a small Christmas present for a child under the tree is a Godsend for some families. 

AAIM step's in access to how we can help families, sometimes it is the only bandaid for the person, but if we can order a piece of medical equipment that a victim now needs, that their insurance won't cover, they are so grateful. 

Imagine losing your 4-year-old and you can not get out of bed, or shower, or take care of your other child because you can't stop crying. How you are going to feed your surviving child. How are you going to pay for the burial of the deceased child from the crash? How are you going to pay for a grave marker? This can be a real financial burden on families. These are just some examples of things we as advocates look for and identify as we help families we are with. Advocates are usually with these families for years as they go through the court system and become a lifeline to victims affected by these selfish reckless drivers on the road. This is but one part of our organization. 

There are many other aspects of our organization, we educate the public about the dangers of driving impaired and distracted on our roads and waterways. We have a court monitoring program that watches the outcome of misdemeanor DUI in the court system. We have two drug and alcohol educators that speak to high school and college students. We also have a legislative branch in AAIM to help change our impaired and distracted driving law's in Illinois. We run Victim Impact Panels that DUI offenders are court-ordered to attend and listen to a live victim talk about their tragedy. This may be a little bit more than you wanted to know about us but we are a truly dedicated and passionate group of people that need sponsors and community help to continue our hard work, this year due to COVID our the event is virtual. Thank you so much for your kindness in considering helping our organization.

Sincerely, 

Kelly Krenzer 

AAIM Victim Advocate