It would have been understood if Charles Brown sat with the grief of losing his 15-year-old son, Logan, in a drunk-driving collision in March 2015. Instead of letting grief immobilize him, he wanted to make sure other parents would not face the same tragedy.
Later that year, Brown founded Logan’s Promise, which facilitates safe rides home to those who need a designated driver. Logan’s Promise chips in — up to $25 — on the cost of people’s Lyft rides. Brown says businesses, private parties, and agencies are joining in to get their guests home safely. “Many places are recognizing that if they host an event where they provide their guests alcohol, they need to be responsible enough to offer their guests a safe ride,” he says.
Events utilizing the nonprofit’s free ride service include Guns & Hoses, Germania Maennerchor’s Volksfest, and SWIRCA & More’s BrewFest. “Logan’s Promise has provided hundreds of free Lyft rides home for our patrons,” says SWIRCA Development Coordinator Rachel Lechner Rauch, who notes Logan’s Promise has supported BrewFest for six of the past seven years. “Just to say it out loud makes me so grateful all over again for their help getting dangerous drivers off the road.”
Rides are funded through auction profits from its Walk to Remember each March, plus individual donations and company sponsors. Logan’s Promise has doled out about $20,000 each year for safe rides — on a recent New Year’s Eve, it covered more than 600 rides. “We had a $8,900 Lyft bill,” Brown says.
“Charles has suffered so greatly and has basically dedicated his life to this cause,” Rauch says. “He’s the face of ‘issue to action.’”
