In memory of a young Navy officer from Egg Harbor Township
This summer, voters at the Jersey Shore will be able to select their favorite non-alcoholic mocktails from drinks submitted by 25 bars, restaurants, and casinos in the Great HeROtini Mocktail Challenge.
The competition is sponsored by and benefits the nonprofit John R. Elliott HERO Campaign to raise funds and awareness for the important role of designated drivers in preventing drunk driving fatalities and injuries nationwide. The public will be able to donate and vote online for their favorite mocktails between Memorial Day and Labor Day at www.herotini.org.
Bartenders from each participating establishment will create unique mocktails, vying for the coveted HEROtini Cup. Throughout the summer, patrons can visit participating bars and restaurants to sample the inventive mocktails and vote for their favorites. Each vote and donation supports the HERO Campaign’s life-saving mission to promote responsible and designated driving. Funds raised also support the Holiday HEROES Safe Ride Program, which provides discounted rides in partnership with Uber for patrons of participating HERO bars and taverns over the Thanksgiving to New Year holidays.
“We brought back the HEROtini Challenge by popular demand,” said Bill Elliott, the father of Navy Ensign John Elliott, who was killed by a drunk driver in July 2000 while traveling home from Annapolis, Md. two months after graduating from the United States Naval Academy.
Thousands of voters donated over $25,000 in 2019, the last time the competition was held before being interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Print advertising and social media will publicize the contest and display a QR code that will connect voters to the HeROtini voting page, where they can see pictures of all the competing drinks and bars, including some with creative names such as The Point’s No Buzzzz Colada, Ocean Casino Resorts’ Blackberry Nojito, or Harbor Pines’ Ube Hv (You behave).
Elliott said the idea for the HEROtini was his wife’s invention to promote and recognize designated drivers who do not drink when they provide safe rides home for their friends and families. “They are the real ‘Life of the Party’ and the cure for drunk driving,” noted Muriel Elliott.
The Elliott’s son was killed in a head-on collision with a driver who had been arrested by police for DUI three hours earlier on the evening of July 21, 2000, then released to a man who enabled his friend to drive again while still intoxicated instead of driving him home. Ensign Elliott was driving home to Egg Harbor Township for his mother’s birthday and was planning to enter Naval Flight School that fall. For more information on the HERO Campaign, visit www.herocampaign.org
