As you may have noticed, last week SADD experienced a problem with our website, sadd.org.  We use a major national web hosting company, and the server hosting our site permanently crashed.  Our site had to be transitioned to a new server, and this took a few days.  We appreciate your understanding and patience during the outage.  We're happy to announce that our site is, once again, up and running - and just in case you haven't noticed, we have a new design for the homepage!  Check it out right now.

That's right - we're planning future SADD National Conferences right now, and we want you to chime in!

We have a survey that we promise will only take 90 seconds to fill out.  Don't wait - do it right now while you're reading this.  It's quick, easy, and important.  Click here to take the survey.  Thanks for giving us your feedback!

The annual Act Out Loud contest is over, and we're delighted to announce that for the second time in the last four years, a SADD chapter won!  This year, Stuarts Draft High School SADD from Virginia took home the grand prize of $10,000.  You can check out the video describing their distracted driving project by clicking here.

We also congratulate Colts Neck High School SADD from New Jersey, who were one of five "Judges Choice" winners and took home $5,000 for their project.  Thanks to all the SADD chapters who competed this year!

Still more congratulations go out to SADD's College Scholarship winners.  Here are the students selected to receive a $500 scholarship:

• Erika Baldry from Custer County District High School SADD in Montana
• Ciera Phelps from Stafford Technical Center VTLSP/SADD in Vermont
• Rachael Rott from Drake-Anamoose High School SADD in North Dakota
• Julina Willis from Archbishop McCarthy High School SADD in Florida 

We congratulate all these winners, and thank all those who applied for this very competitive scholarship.

Each year, states receive funds through a source called EUDL (Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws).  In some states, this money helps support statewide SADD offices.  There is an annual conference as well, held this year in Orlando on August 10-12.  For the first time, they will hand out a "EUDL Youth Leadership Award" to a student or group (like a SADD chapter).  If your chapter engaged in environmental strategies to reduce underage drinking - such as compliance checks, shoulder taps, "sticker shock"-type programs with retailers, policy task forces, etc. - you're eligible to apply!  The application deadline is June 15.  Click here for the nomination form.

Our friends at Youth Service America are offering $500 or $1,000 grants to support service-learning projects on September 11, 2011, as part of the 9/11 Day of Service.  Planning ahead for the fall?  You might want to apply for funds to support a project that day.  Hurry - the deadline to apply is June 17.  For more information, click here.

Believe it or not, it's still not too late to join us for the 2011 SADD National Conference, Passport to Adventure: Cleared for Takeoff, in Chicago, Illinois on June 26-29.  If you're within driving distance of Chicago, this is your opportunity to attend the conference without the expense of flights.  So what are you waiting for?  Visit sadd.org to learn more and register for this incredible experience!

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s Suicide Prevention Research Center has partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to create a free toolkit for schools called "After a Suicide."  It contains suicide prevention materials such as warning signs and causes of suicide, but focuses on what a school should do after a suicide.  These steps include crisis response, helping students cope, addressing social media, and guidelines for how to bring in outside help.  The kit can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

Did you know summer was the most dangerous time for teen drivers?  SADD has a campaign designed to serve as a send-off at the end of school and into the summer to help keep teens safe.  The Think About It ... Summer Waves: The Power of Communication campaign can be downloaded for free along with SADD's other campaigns by clicking here.  These campaigns, which were completely refreshed in the last few years, can be a great resource for chapters looking to implement a larger program, since they contain easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions.  Check out Summer Waves and our other campaigns today!

The latest Liberty Mutual/SADD teen driving study reveals an alarmingly high number of young drivers (68 percent, with more than half of those reporting multiple instances) who have had "near misses" while driving - just narrowly avoiding a crash.  Teens tend to blame these near misses on other drivers (34 percent) or the weather (21 percent).  But when asked what they were doing at the time of the near miss, 30 percent admitted speeding, 21 percent said they were texting while driving, 20 percent were distracted by passengers, and 17 percent were looking down to change songs on an mp3 player.

Summer is often the most dangerous time of the year for young drivers, as they spend more time on the road when out of school.  Looking for resources to help address this danger?  Try libertymutual.com/teendriving to find all the Liberty Mutual/SADD study findings as well as a Parent/Teen Driving Contract to guide families in discussion about driving habits.

Our friends at the SADD Store have great specials and sales we know you'll be interested in, and the best way to learn about these deals is something not many of you have done... "like" their Facebook page.  This takes just a second to do, and you'll be kept up-to-date on all the latest bargains in your news feed.  Take our word for it - you'll thank us later!  "Like" their page today.

People often ask us how they might help support SADD and the important work you are doing in your schools and communities every day.  Of course, monetary donations are always welcomed.  But what if we told you that there was something you could do that took just a minute once, and then painlessly generated donations for SADD forever... at no cost to you?

Well, there is.  Install SADD's We-Care Reminder in your browser, and every time you buy something online - music, books, clothes, and more - SADD will receive a portion of the price you pay as a donation - at no cost to you!  Many websites participate, including Amazon.com, and you only need to install it once to generate funds for SADD for years to come.  PLEASE - take just 60 seconds, visit sadd.we-care.com/start and install the plugin right now.  Funds raised help support our efforts to provide programs and resources to you, including this newsletter.

We also hope you might help us spread the word - please encourage family, friends, teachers, and more to install the We-Care Reminder.  It's such an easy thing to do - take just a minute to do it right now!