Cece Mullenbach has a passion for the prevention on underage drinking and drunk driving that was fueled by the tragic loss of her daughter Sarah, who was killed by a drunk driver on July 3, 2004. Sarah was only 17.  Cece has persistently taken a leadership role in following legislation and the media regarding alcohol use and preventing underage drinking and drunk driving through many different venues in our community, all on her own personal time outside of a full-time job in healthcare. Cece has been involved and chaired many activities in our County. She and her family have set up the Sarah Mullenbach Foundation, which sponsors an annual mixed golf scramble for youth to raise money for scholarships. They have donated over $34,000 in scholarships. Cece and her family brought the 2006 Miss America to area high schools and a community-wide event in 2007 to address underage drinking and drunk driving, which was Miss America's platform. In 2007, Cece joined a developing Community Coalition dedicated to reducing alcohol-related injuries and deaths in La Crosse County and immediately began recruiting help for a county-wide alcohol awareness event.  In March 2009, Cece's effort became reality as a day-long event for community leaders called "The Plunge," which Cece chaired.  This event was an innovative approach to underage drinking designed to mobilize a community by immersing participants into the depths of the problems, causes and consequences of underage drinking. As a result of this event, the County Sheriff's Department is now encouraging local municipalities to develop Alcohol Compliance and Education programs modeled on the City of La Crosse A.C.E. program.  Cece is also on a statewide panel to change the culture of risky alcohol use in Wisconsin.

Be sure to thank La Crosse Police Department Officers Alan Iverson (Top) and Bob Wieczorek (Bottom) of the ACE Team(Alcohol Compliance Education)!  They were nominated for an award at the WI Prevention Conference by Tracy Herlitzke, our Underage Access Work Group Chair.  Al and Bob also presented at the WI Prevention Conference to over 80 attendees and it was very well received! During their last round of alcohol compliance checks, only 1 out of 20 locations sold – a 95% SUCCESS rate!  Great job you two and to the department! They offered training on how to conduct alcohol compliance checks for law enforcement on July 29^th.