Saturday
Christmas Comes Early At Martinsville Speedway With Successful Toy Drive
Press Release
Hundreds of people donated toys, took hot laps in their own cars and hotter laps in a pace car wheeled by Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell, enjoyed a Famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog™, sat on Santa’s knee, and in general had a big time while helping raise more than 1,200 toys for the Martinsville Speedway Toy Drive.
Those toys will go to help 233 children in the Martinsville and Henry County area have a brighter Christmas morning.
“It was an amazing day. Everybody had a wonderful time and in the end so many children in this area are going to be helped,” said Campbell. “It’s a fun day for all of us here at the Speedway. We see so many of our friends and make so many new friends this day every year.
“And it’s always unbelievable that no matter how bad times are, this community and the racing community come through and make it such a big and beneficial day. It’s truly a humbling experience every year.”
Each of the 233 children will receive a new bicycle. Activate Martinsville is donating a helmet to go along with each one of the bicycles.
The Grace Network, a group of about 85 churches in the Martinsville and Henry County area, handles the toy collection and distribution. Last year they had 159 families to serve from the toy drive. This year that number grew to 233, but enough toys and money was donated to make sure all those families are served.
The Grace Network also will distribute 84 homework boxes, which include school supplies, to the 233 children.
The Grace Network’s efforts were boosted by a $15,000 grant from the Hughes Memorial Foundation. With that additional funding, the Grace Network was able to purchase bicycles and other toys for older children.
The monetary donations on Saturday will also go to purchasing Christmas gifts.
“The folks with the Grace Network do an amazing job. They are the ones that deserve the credit. They identify families in need and handle the hard work of getting all the toys bought, boxed and distributed,” said Campbell.”We couldn’t do this without them.”
The Grace Network utilized about 50 volunteers Saturday. They collected toys and cash from those people who wanted to drive around the track in their cars. They transported toys to the infield, sorted them by age group and then boxed them for distribution to families.
The staff of Martinsville Speedway donated their time Saturday to man the infield concession stand to cook and sell hot dogs, coordinated the hot laps and pace car laps with Campbell.
- Martinsville Speedway, Press Release
Article Tags:
