It’s so simple. It only takes five seconds. But your seatbelt could be the thin line that saves your life. You may have seen the posters around school with dainty, blue ribbons dangling from the bottom. Haley Goldhahn loved watching those blue ribbons slowly disappear.

“Lauryn’s accident was caused by her not wearing her seatbelt. She was ejected from the car and killed instantly,” explains Haley.

Lauryn was Haley’s 15-year-old cousin who lost her life this past August in a car accident.

Haley brought the “Buckle up Blue” campaign to Winchester to honor her cousin’s memory and to remind people how important it is to buckle their seatbelts.

Haley’s intention for the campaign was for people to take the ribbons and tie them somewhere in their car or on their keys as a reminder to wear their seatbelts.

“I was nervous to start the campaign,” she says. “I was scared that people wouldn’t get involved, and I was afraid that people would be disrespectful toward it or think that it’s not that big of a deal.

But that was not the case.

After the first day, three of the four posters had no ribbons left. “I know that nobody here knew her, but it’s really beautiful to see that so many people are coming together, and not just for me, but for her,” says Haley.

Lauryn was always one to help people, and through this campaign she still can.

A high school volleyball team that played against Lauryn’s team began the #buckleupblue4lauryn and wearing the blue ribbons.

Eventually Haley’s aunt and uncle took the idea and ran with it; this led Haley to bring it to Winchester.

“It was a little thing that nobody thought of as a big deal but it expanded in that community,” she says.

Haley’s family began receiving messages from other people who had been touched by their story. “A lot of the messages started out with ‘You don’t know me but . . .’” Haley says.

Lauryn and Haley’s family have heard several other stories just like their own from complete strangers. “It’s really heart warming because I feel like Lauryn is really making a difference,” says Haley.