Then-Grand Master James L. Ernette (left) and State Police Commissioner Paul J. Evanko present an oversize replica of the $50,000 check from The Pennsylvania Masonic Foundation for Children to Angela Sagetti, S.A.D.D. Director.

On Dec. 17, then-R.W. Grand Master James L. Ernette and several members of the Grand Lodge, the Executive Director Bro. Joseph L. Witte and members of The Pennsylvania Masonic Foundation for Children, along with Bro. and Col. Paul J. Evanko, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, attended a press conference in the Rotunda of the State Capitol for the kick-off of the "Every Thirty Minutes" program. Grand Master Ernette presented a check for $50,000 to the Program Coordinator to show the support for our youth by The Pennsylvania Masonic Foundation for Children and the 150,000 Pennsylvania Masons.

Run by the PA DUI Association in conjunction with the State Police, the Pennsylvania Masons and Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.), the "Every Thirty Minutes" program instructs students in area high schools about the consequences of "driving under the influence." During the press conferences, speakers from two high schools that had participated in the pilot program spoke about the impact that it had on their whole student bodies.

In the dramatically instructional "Every Thirty Minutes" enactment, the "Grim Reaper" goes into the classroom every 30 minutes and removes previously chosen students to demonstrate that's how often someone is killed as a result of an auto accident involving driving while impaired. When they are returned to the classroom, those students are not allowed to communicate with anyone in the school while their fellow students write letters expressing their thoughts about the departed students.

The students who were chosen and removed from the classroom stay with the staff in a local hotel overnight, where they write letters to their parents about their "death." Parents are also part of the program and they, too, write letters to their children expressing their feelings of loss and grief. Visits to the emergency room and morgue also are part of the program.