SAVANNAH (March 25, 2022) – In preparation for Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April, the Abbie DeLoach Foundation (ADF) encourages businesses, community partners, individuals and students to get involved and make a commitment to safe driving practices. The hashtag was created in honor of Abbie, who was one of five Georgia Southern nursing students to lose their lives on April 22, 2015, due to a distracted driver.
The #HandsFreeForAbbie hashtag started in the Savannah and Statesboro areas by Abbie’s family, friends and sorority sisters when the Georgia Hands Free Law was signed on July 1, 2018. The hashtag quickly went viral. ADF wants to remind everyone about the importance of distraction-free driving. As part of its work in the community, ADF is raising awareness about distracted driving and encouraging drivers to commit to ending it.
ADF plans to help reduce distracted driving by sharing #HandsFreeForAbbie images and messaging on social media, and encouraging drivers to make a commitment to phone-free driving by taking a pledge.
Individuals can begin planning their own #HandsFreeForAbbie campaign by visiting the handsfreeforabbie.com website. You are welcome to take the pledge and share it with your social networks, encouraging them do the same.
Organizations can take these three easy steps to become a partner with ADF:
1. Provide your organization’s logo so ADF can publicly share your #HandsFreeForAbbie efforts on the handsfreeforabbie.com website.
2. Visit handsfreeforabbie.com and download social media images you can share to your personal and business social media channels, and to internal newsletter communications to employees throughout the month of April 2022.
3. Share the pledge and encourage your employees to make a commitment by signing the #HandsFreeForAbbie Pledge sheet downloadable at handsfreeforabbie.com.
About the Abbie DeLoach Foundation
The Abbie DeLoach Foundation (ADF) is named for Savannah, Georgia, native Abbie DeLoach, who was one of five Georgia Southern University nursing students tragically killed in a tractor-trailer collision on April 22, 2015. ADF was founded by Abbie’s father, Jimmy DeLoach Jr., in 2016 as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. ADF has proudly presented $1.25 million in scholarships reflecting the qualities that exemplified her life — a love of nursing, education, athleticism and world missions. ADF has awarded 34 medical scholarships and 16 student-athlete scholarships, funded 10 student service programs, and enabled eight recipients to do world mission work. In addition, ADF has built an international home for women in Abbie’s name, with $90,000 invested to stop the exploitation of women. It is headquartered in Savannah. For more information, visit www.abbiedeloachfoundation.com.
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