On Saturday, April 24, Southwest Florida anglers took to the Lee County waters to participate in Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Southwest Florida’s (MADD SWFL) inaugural “Fish Like MADD” Tournament. The tournament was hosted to honor Dylan Gonzalez, who tragically lost his life when struck by an underage and impaired captain in June of 2016.
“For our inaugural event, we were moved to see the support from nearly 100 anglers, dozens of community sponsors, while SWFL honored Dylan’s life in an impactful way,” said Lori Burke, MADD SWFL’s executive director
Thirty-six teams participated, with a total of 95 individual anglers, 15 sponsors, which contributed to significant donations in support of the MADD SWFL mission.
“We see tragic DUI and BUI accidents every day and believe wholeheartedly in MADD SWFL’s mission. We couldn’t be more honored to sponsor this event and help elevate and evolve awareness of MADD’s advocacy work from the highways to the waterways,” said Ty Roland, Aloia, Roland, Lubell & Morgan, PLLC senior partner and presenting sponsor.
The tournament anglers set out on the waterways to fish for the longest snook, redfish and sea trout in total per team.
Top placement in the tournament was awarded to:
- 1st place: Team Black Dog at 89 inches
- 2nd place: Team Fish On Charters at 88 inches
- 3rd place: Team Crushin’ It Charters at 85.5 inches
Established in 2013, MADD SWFL provides free programs to over 15,000 people annually in the Southwest Florida community through its underage drinking prevention initiatives, its campaign to eliminate drunk driving, tie one on for safety campaign and DUI offender education. In addition, the local MADD chapter supports law enforcement hosting an annual law enforcement recognition program and free DUI training benefiting over 300 local law enforcement professionals. Most importantly, MADD SWFL supports victims and survivors of drunk, drugged and substance-impaired driving; providing over 2,000 free services annually and facilitating grief and community groups as well as an annual tribute event. Learn more at www.madd.org/southwest-florida/ or call (239) 791-7560.
