Several dozen people attended a candlelight vigil at the Wesley Street United church St. John's Wednesday night to remember the devastation drunk drivers cause to families.

People who attended the service organized by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers said they were there to send a message to anyone who might consider drinking and driving over the holidays.

"A very good friend of mine and my husband's was killed Boxing Day last year, by a drunk driver," said Debby Lake, fighting back tears. "Not a single day goes by that I don't think about him."

Lake said that just weeks before the death of that friend, Roger Linehan, on Columbus Drive in St. John's, he had proposed to his girlfriend.

"It's going to be a really sad day. It's the first anniversary, and it's going to be really really hard but I want to remember him in a happy way and the fun times we had," she said.

"For the sake of a $20 cab ride … there are so many lives that have been destroyed by this and there's no need."