Laurel Middelaer wears a purple rubber bracelet around her left wrist in memory of her four-year-old daughter Alexa.
It reads: Tenacious, Spirit and Love.
Each quality, Middelaer said, is indicative of her daughter’s character.
The words, however, may also characterize the crusade Alexa’s family has embarked on since their toddler’s tragic death more than two years ago.
The Middelaers have founded the Alexa Middelaer Memorial Fund to reduce impaired-driving related injuries and deaths. They created Alexa’s Team to honour police officers who forward 10 impaired driving charges to Crown in one year.
In April, B.C.’s solicitor general announced the province would adopt the toughest drunk-driving laws in Canada in Alexa’s memory to reduce alcohol-related fatalities 35 per cent by 2013.
The Middelaers’ latest initiative, launched two weeks ago, is called Alexa’s Bus.
Outside provincial court in Surrey yesterday, Middelaer, said they hope to raise $250,000 to purchase a mobile alcohol-testing unit.
The province, she said, has agreed to fund its operation. She hopes to have one bus — painted purple, Alexa’s favourite colour — up and running by the end of summer.
