Rebecca Bomia is in awe of the turnout for Monroe’s first MADD Walk, held Sat., Aug. 9 at Munson Park.
Bomia and her daughter, Rayna Beach, organized the event to advocate against impaired driving. MADD stands for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The Monroe women are already planning Monroe’s 2026 walk for next August.
“We had over 70 people registered to walk. (That’s great) for an out-of-the-box MADD Walk, one that’s completely volunteer-ran,” Bomia said. “I’m in awe. It was such a blessing. Our community came together.”
Through registration fees, the walk raised more than $4,000, which will be used to help victims in their court cases. The walk also raised awareness to the problem of impaired driving.
“Even if five people walked away and said, ‘That helped me,’ that’s an achivement to me,” Bomia said.
Bomia has volunteered for MADD since 2021, when her daughter was hit by an alleged drunk driver and suffered severe injuries.
Aug. 9’s walk featured signs on the walking trail to remember and honor victims. There also were several speakers, including Bomia and Beach.
“My daughter spoke for the first time (since the crash). She went up there with courage. I was in awe with her and had so much pride,” Bomia said.
Kristina Beavers talked about her daughter, Mia Howard, who was killed by a drunk driver when she was 17.
“She helped me with the event. She gave an emtional speech,” Bomia said.
Also helping was Sarah McQuaide, who lost her husband in a drunk driving crash.
“She’s going through the court. She was an angel to me,” Bomia said.
Local businesses such as Tiffany’s Pizza and Buscemi’s Pizza donated food.
The event also honored the late Bill Major of Monroe, who advocated against drunk driving. In 1980, his daughter, Connie, was killed by a drunk driver on North Monroe Street. Later, his nephew and one of his twin granddaughters were killed in separate drunk driving crashes. The other granddaughter suffered major injuries. Bill Major died on Feb. 18, 2025.
“He dedicated his life (to the cause). He went around Monroe teaching people and advocating for people to not drive drunk,” Bomia said. “We’ll honor someone every year. I already know who we’ll honor next year.”
Bomia said the 2026 MADD Walk will begin about an hour later than this year’s. It will again be held at Munson Park.
“Everyone loves Munson Park,” Bomia said. “Next year we’ll be back, bigger and strong with hopefully no more victims.”
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Rebecca Bomia talks about Monroe’s first MADD Walk and plans for a 2026 event
Reporting by Suzanne Nolan Wisler, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
