01/23/2003

From KING 5 Staff Reports

SEATTLE - Anna White of Medina, Wash., always volunteered to be the designated driver. So her parents thought it was a cruel irony that she would be killed by someone who was driving drunk.

The 21-year-old art student and graduate of Sammamish High was standing outside a Los Angeles radio station last September where pop star Justin Timberlake was making an appearance.

White got into an argument with a stranger, who prosecutors say got behind the wheel of his truck drunken and enraged, and ran her down dragging her body down the street.

KING Anna White

Five months after her murder, her parents still can't bear to go to southern California.

While her accused killer awaits trial, Anna's parents are following their daughter's lead. Because Anna did not drink and was a dedicated designated driver for most of her friends, the Whites started a foundation called Anna's Ride Home.

Working with bars on the Eastside, they provide taxi vouchers to any patron who's had too much to drink. The bartender calls the cab, and the cab comes and takes the person directly home for free.

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The Anna Armstrong White Foundation

“I've received a lot of positive feedback with people saying ‘that is really great that you've taken the initiative to offer people, a solution to that problem’,” he said.

Anna's Ride Home officially kicks off at the Lucky 7 in Kirkland. Wash., on Feb. 1.

The foundation is looking for sponsors to join the program.