Community gathers to remember those who lost their lives in DUI crashes

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The holidays can be when more losses happen. Families of people killed in DUI crashes gathered Sunday night for a vigil to remember their loved ones.

The DUI Victims Center of Kansas held the vigil Sunday night at St. Mary Orthodox Church. The center’s founder, Mary Ann Khoury, tells KSN that Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve are both times when drunk driving incidents pick up.

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This is the 35th year this vigil is being held. Speakers who lost loved ones to a DUI share about their loved ones and share a meal. Each victim has a photo projected onto a screen. The people there to remember that person light a candle in their honor.

“The goal is to let people know that their loved one is remembered not only by them but by others present in the community. The hope is that the hope will go on and drunk driving will have no more victims,” said Khoury.

Khoury says the holidays are an especially difficult time for families who have lost a loved one to drunk driving. She says she believes the candlelight vigil helps alleviate that feeling of loss.

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