CONCORD, N.C. – Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. announced that he is beginning a new charitable organization to help out needy kids in both his home state of New Jersey and his current home of Mooresville, N.C. Truex wants to take advantage of his position within NASCAR and his success in life in order to give back to his community and share the blessings that he has been afforded. The foundation will be focused on helping kids who are in need and could benefit from a little aid of some kind.
Truex observed during the formal announcement of his new foundation that while growing up, his family didn’t have a lot, but they had enough and shared with others whenever they could. His mom and dad were great examples of people who gave back to the community. Now that he is in the position to do the same, he wants to take the lead in giving back to the community and making a difference in kids’ lives. Truex said after the conference “It is easy to mold kids when they are young so that is where I want to focus my efforts to try and make their lives better and hopefully make them better people because of the help they receive.”
The foundation’s first project is called Lil’ Bears for Lil’ Kids. The project initially is designed to give stuffed animals to an organization known as the Dove House. It is an organization that helps sexually abused children in Iredell and Catawba counties in North Carolina. So far, the foundation has donated 827 stuffed animals to the organization with more to come.
The foundation was given a very good start by a personal donation from Truex of $100,000. Several other organizations also volunteered to help out with the start of the foundation’s efforts. The NASCAR Foundation made a donation of $5,000, while the Dale Earnhardt Foundation donated $5,000 and also pledged to donate an additional $3,000 for every race win between now and the end of the 2008 season. Finally, Bass Pro Shops pledged to donate 1,000 bears to the foundation for their Lil’ Bears project.
The foundation is in its formative stages and will hopefully continue to grow as it progresses. Truex hopes to eventually do some fundraising activities that are geared around the outdoors. The possibilities include a skeet shoot and a charity bass fishing tournament. If you are interested in helping out with the foundation, you can make donations at www.martintruexjrfoundation.org.
About the author
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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