By Gwen Rollings
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” is a quote by Edmund Burke from the 1700s. However, many believe it is just as relevant today regarding an epidemic pervasive in our technologically obsessed culture.
We’ve probably all been a part of it; glance at our phone to answer the text, look to see who’s calling, or check our emails while driving. We only looked away from the road for a couple of seconds. What harm could that do?
On September 15, 2016, a driver was doing just that when he ran at more than 100 miles per hour into the back of an SUV stuck in a traffic jam on I-75 near Brooksville. That distracted driver forever changed the life of a Riverview family.
Their 9-year-old son and brother, Logan, was killed instantly. That tragedy turned into a cause as the Scherer family struggled to deal with the senseless loss of Logan: “If we let his death define us as humans and do nothing with our survival and our story, then his death is in vain.”
This good family did do something and established the Living for Logan Foundation not only to honor Logan but also to work toward eliminating the deadly epidemic of distracted drivers through education, legislation and changing hearts, minds and habits of drivers everywhere. The foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Another good woman stepped up to do something. Melanie Jordy of FishHawk started Operation Lotus after her husband died. The mission of her nonprofit is to help other families going through a traumatic event. That is how she met Jordan and Brooke Scherer.
“I now serve as the executive director for Living for Logan,” said Jordy. “We have been given the opportunity to produce an educational video for Hillsborough County schools to educate students during their HOPE classes about the dangers of distracted driving.”
The good didn’t stop there. Jordy is also a member of the Riverview/FishHawk chapter of 100 Women Who Care. Debbie Matice, a local Keller-Williams realtor, said she began this chapter because, “I wanted to do something for the community but didn’t have a lot of time to volunteer.
On January 28, a check in the amount of $3,450 was presented to Jordy as a representative for the Living for Logan Foundation. An additional donation of $1,725 was approved by the Richard M. Schultz Family Foundation, bringing the total to $5,175.
For more ways to get involved, visit www.livingforlogan.org or www.facebook.com/100WWCRiverviewFishhawk.
