The vast majority of people reading this will never wonder how they will provide their next meal for their families or whether they will go to bed hungry because they can’t afford food that day. However, several families living in Gallatin County face this dilemma every day.
A mother and father – let’s call them Lucille and Billy – are raising their five children in the small town of Warsaw, Kentucky. Billy works hard at a local business, while Lucille suffers from a rare neuromuscular disorder that makes life challenging at times. Finding the money to pay for rent, bills, medicine, nutritious food and other necessities can be very difficult in this single-income household.
Unfortunately, the family suffered through hard situations, including being evicted from their home, having to catch up on paying bills, raising their children in a much smaller space and trying to make food stretch for their large family. Not wanting their children to continue going to bed hungry, Lucille and Billy asked for help at the Gallatin County Food Pantry, who was able to supplement the family’s groceries with other nutritious essentials they needed.
In the end, the children were able to focus and perform better in school, and Lucille and Billy were able to solve bigger issues by becoming financially stable after receiving this help from the local food pantry. The children continue to thrive on a daily basis, and Lucille has now begun to help others by volunteering her time at the Gallatin County Food Pantry as a way to pay it forward.
This is only one example of the programs and organizations the Kentucky Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC) supports. On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, SCC will host its 4th Annual Night of Giving, which is a celebration of the chapter’s annual opportunity to provide grant funding to local non-profit children’s organizations in the community.
With help from corporate partners, volunteers, board members, local communities and race fans throughout the region, the Kentucky Chapter is honored to award over $81,000 in funding this fiscal year, identifying the following 25 organizations in Kentucky, Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana as grant recipients:
- Awake Food Ministries (Shelbyville, KY)
- CancerFree KIDS Pediatric Cancer Research Alliance (Loveland, OH)
- The Caring Place (Lebanon, KY)
- The Center for Courageous Kids (Scottsville, KY)
- Clark County Youth Shelter & Family Services (Jeffersonville, IN)
- Dare to Care Food Bank (Louisville, KY)
- Down Syndrome of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
- Easter Seals West Kentucky (Paducah, KY)
- Educational Excellence Foundation of Gallatin County (Warsaw, KY)
- Educational Excellence Foundation of Owen County (Owenton, KY)
- Gallatin County Food Pantry (Warsaw, KY)
- God’s Pantry Food Bank (Lexington, KY)
- HOPE for Gallatin County (Warsaw, KY)
- Kids Cancer Alliance (Louisville, KY)
- Mack Family Foundation (Florence, KY)
- Maryhurst (Louisville, KY)
- Master Provisions (Florence, KY)
- Meeting the Needs Ministry (Owenton, KY)
- New Perceptions (Edgewood, KY)
- Redwood School and Rehabilitation Center (Fort Mitchell, KY)
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Council of Northern Kentucky (Covington, KY)
- Special Olympics Kentucky (Frankfort, KY)
- St. Joseph Infant and Maternity Home (Cincinnati, OH)
- UpSpring (Cincinnati, OH)
- Wendell Foster’s Campus (Owensboro, KY)
“Speedway Children’s Charities is grateful to be able to distribute funds to non-profit children’s organizations that focus on improving the quality of life for children in our local community,” said Chapter Director Dayna Winslette. “Over the last four years, our chapter has raised and awarded almost $308,000 in grant funding, bringing our grand total to over $625,000 in funding and assistance that has been distributed throughout our region since our inception in 2011.”
At the Night of Giving, each organization will be recognized and will receive their grant check from Winslette and Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger. Guests will enjoy refreshments and entertainment by local musician Billy Brown prior to the presentation and check distribution. Media is invited to attend and share in this night of celebration with SCC and the grant recipient organizations. Simply RSVP by Noon on Monday, December 4 by e-mailing Dayna at [email protected] and indicate whether you will be bringing equipment and/or requesting an interview that evening.
For additional information about the Kentucky Chapter of SCC or its 2018 fundraising efforts, please visit their website at http://kentucky.speedwaycharities.org/. The organization can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by searching “SCCKentucky.”
Kentucky Speedway PR
