When Evelyn McKee lost her brother to a drunken driving accident, her life changed forever.

In a small Bellefonte office, signs touting the dangers of drunk driving surround McKee. Next to her, a small maroon photo album profiles the life and death of her brother, Chris Wilson.

The office is light years away from the job she held 10 years ago. Formerly a Special Education substitute teacher, McKee now focuses her attention on preventing drunken driving through Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She joined the group after an intoxicated 17-year-old crashed into her brother's car 10 years ago on Interstate 99.

"That's just one of those moments in time you'll always remember," McKee said of the phone call she received telling her the news. "Everything changed."

Her brother, who was a State College resident, was killed two weeks after his 33rd birthday, leaving behind two children and a wife.

Mckee remembers answering the phone on Nov. 7, 1997. Her mother was breathing erratically, telling her that her brother was dead. As the details emerged -- the driver pulled off the highway, made a U-turn and hit her brother's white two-door vehicle near Duncansville -- her family went through the motions of funeral arrangement and court processes.

"We didn't want to do this," McKee said. "We had to do this because someone decided to drink and drive."

The responsible juvenile was convicted but never put in jail, prompting McKee to become a victim advocate and speaker for MADD.

She now tells her brother's story at DUI classes at the Centre County jails and local high schools. She also aids those affected by drunk driving.

MADD, along with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, introduced a billboard campaign along highway 220 featuring a photo of her curly haired brother accompanied by the words "Caution, drunk drivers at work." McKee also helps at large security checkpoints in Centre County run by the Alcohol Task Force.

In addition to her work with MADD, McKee works as a court monitor in Centre and Clinton counties for DUI cases, which comprise about one-third of all cases, she said.

"I never thought that many DUIs went through the system," McKee said. "You have to think of how many people they're not getting."

According to the Pennsylvania DUI Association, there were over 13,000 alcohol-related crashes resulting in 542 deaths in Pennsylvania in 2004, which is the most recent statistic available.

McKee said according to documents at the Centre County Probation Department, 762 DUI cases were dealt with in 2006.

In State College, police made a record-breaking 484 DUI arrests in 2006.

Despite her history, McKee said the point of her work isn't to prevent people over 21 from drinking but rather to educate about the dangers of drinking and driving while intoxicated.

"One big misconception people have about MADD is that we're against drinking," McKee said. "That has nothing to do with anything we do ... what we do is education. That's our prevention."

Penn State recently announced the launch of a $600,000 campaign to target "dangerous drinking," a move that McKee said she supports if targeted to the right people.

"[Education is] one of the most important things we can do. But, if this education is geared toward any kind of drinking purposes it should be to [those] over 21," she said. "I don't think teaching underage [individuals] to drink responsibly even goes together."

McKee said there is an attitude needing to be changed surrounding Penn State that all students drink because it's what kids do.

"A lot of students I've talked to choose not to drink," she said. "I think that group of students are being overlooked and it's a little bit of a slap in that face. There are many students out there that choose not to drink. They don't get the attention of the ones who do."

McKee said when she speaks to both students and DUI offenders, she gives them a personal story about drunken driving, although she realizes that not everyone she speaks to really hears her message.

"If I have saved anybody from going through what we went through," McKee said. "It's worthwhile."