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The Allstate Foundation has selected Laura Marchetti as its first Parent Activist of the Year winner. Marchetti’s efforts to prevent traffic-related youth deaths in her home state of Florida stood out from the competition.
"I lost my 16-year-old daughter, Katie, on March 4, 2006, from a preventable death from not wearing her seat belt,” said Marchetti. “Her belted driver survived with barely a scratch. My goal is to empower teens to take responsibility, realize they are not invincible, and wear their seat belts every time they get into a vehicle.” The Katie Marchetti Memorial Foundation has been chosen by Marchetti to receive a $10,000 grant from The Allstate Foundation. The mission of the Katie Marchetti Memorial Foundation is to bring hope to others and education to teens about the necessity of seat belt usage. "Our hearts go out to the Marchetti family for the loss of Katie. We are inspired by Laura's courageous and tireless work to help other teens and families avoid similar tragedies," said Susan Duchak, director of The Allstate Foundation Teen Driving Program. “Laura is a shining example of what caring and committed parents can do to help address the teen driving issue." With May as National Youth Traffic Safety Month it is an important time for teens, parents and community leaders to work to keep young drivers safe on the road. “An overwhelming number of teen fatalities are from not wearing seat belts in car crashes, the leading cause of death among teens. Katie is one of those statistics, and we live with that fact every day,” said Marchetti. Marchetti continues to work in preventing further tragedies with other programs like the "Cross Your Heart Promise", aimed at Florida teens promising to always wear a seatbelt when in a motor vehicle. She is also assisted in the production of a public service announcement that is playing in local movie theaters.
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