Community service, fines, and jail time are not the worst things that can happen when motorists are impaired.

To bring that message home to DUI offenders, the Victim Impact Panel delivers a message intended to share the impacts that impaired driving can have. Individuals — victims and survivors — talk about what they lost and what their loved ones lost.

They ask those they are speaking to to make better decisions, to help prevent others from going through what they have to live with.

Attending a Victim Impact Panel is part of the sentence for those convicted of DUI in Warren County.

The members of the panel are not reading from scripts. They’re talking about their lives… their losses.

Some are family members of those lost in impaired driving crashes.

“Every parent’s nightmare — a call in the middle of the night… ‘Your daughter is dead.'”

“The doctor came to us… my mom, dad, and two nephews were all dead.”

“She was pronounced dead a little before noon.”

Others were in the crashes.

“I’m fortunate. At least I’m here, and able to walk, and can do most things for myself again.”

They hope to change perceptions and behaviors and save lives.

They are not against alcohol and don’t ask people not to drink.

“I don’t tell people, ‘I don’t want you to drink,'” VIP member Buster Godden said. “I want you to do it responsibly.”

Travis Godden was killed in a drunk driving crash in 2003 at the age of 25.

FUNDING AND VOLUNTEERS

While the program is court-ordered, it is not court-funded.

It is a volunteer organization that relies on donations and fundraisers.

The Warren County Victim Impact Panel is able to do its job, but the members are looking for help.

The group expects that a few new members with some fresh ideas would help the Victim Impact Panel continue to provide an impactful and in-person program, expand back into schools, and continue to reward exemplary behavior in high school students.

The organization wants to continue offering in-person panels. “Face-to-face is always better” than a video, Buster Godden said. “Some people come up to you after and they’re impacted by it. I’ve had people come up to me crying after.”

The members want to continue to reward local high school students who make good decisions.

The group’s annual golf scramble had to be canceled this year due to lack of entries.

Money from that event helps offset the $500 scholarships the group awards to a high school senior from each county school every year.

The organization has held a variety of fund-raisers and is looking into holding a 5k this spring.

They would also like to be more pro-active.

The members would like to encourage people to not start driving impaired instead of reactively presenting to those already under DUI convictions.

“Programs for schools… I’d like to see us get back to more of that,” Godden said.

With more volunteers and more dollars, the group could get its message in front of young people, in front of major county gatherings. “The Warren County Fair, Cornfest, Safety Day… it would be great to do those things if we had enough people,” he said.

The group doesn’t need people who can give 40 hours a week. “We’re not asking for a lot of time,” Coordinator Monica Prowitt said. “A couple hours a month.”

And members of the group don’t have to be speakers — the VIP has members who are speakers and members who are not. “They don’t have to have a story to tell,” Godden said.

Anyone interested in the program may learn more by visiting www.warrenvip.org or the Victim Impact Panel of Warren Pennsylvania Facebook page, or by contacting Prowitt at vipwarrenpa@gmail.com.