Nonprofits profit from Children’s Charities

Fifty-five Sonoma County nonprofit organizations will benefit from nearly $375,000 in grants that were recently awarded by the Sonoma chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC), the charitable arm of Sonoma Raceway.

In total, $374,670 was distributed to youth-serving organizations in Sonoma County, bringing the chapter’s total to more than $5.5 million since 2001.The chapter’s board of trustees recently approved the distribution of 2016 funds at its annual meeting.

The funds were primarily raised through 13 SCC fundraising events in 2016, the majority of which are held during the raceway’s major-event weekends, including NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar. Highlights of the year included the Children’s Champions NASCAR Grand Marshal’s Banquet and the Online NASCAR Charitable Auction, which combined to raise more than $96,000 during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend in June. The 12th annual Classic Sports Racing Group’s (CSRG) Charity Challenge generated another $71,952 for the Sonoma chapter and the 10th annual Eric Medlen Nitro Night held the Thursday prior to the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals netted an additional $28,000 for SCC.

SCC is also supported by a number of businesses that have signed up as Children’s Champions, including Ahlborn Fence & Steel, Inc., American Asphalt, Bleyco Inc., Blue Star Gas, CSW/Stuber Stroeh, ESP & Alarm Inc., Falck/verihealth Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Monument Security Inc., Pacific Highway Rentals, Pacific Satellite Inc., Pacific Gas & Electric and United Site Services. In addition, Great Clips raised nearly $12,500 in donations at its mobile hair salon in the main paddock during the NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar event weekends.

Speedway Children’s Charities is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for qualified children’s organizations. Founded in 1984 by Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., SCC originated at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina and now boasts eight chapters at SMI facilities throughout the country.

Among the Sonoma County youth groups to receive funding from Speedway Children’s Charities in 2016 include the Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma Valley; Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa; Conservation Corps North Bay; Court Appointed Special Advocates of Sonoma County; Social Advocates for Youth; La Luz Center; LandPaths; Redwood Empire Food Bank; Sonoma County Public Library Foundation; Sonoma Ecology Center; Sonoma Valley Education Foundation; Sonoma Valley Education Foundation (Sonoma Valley School Garden Project); Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance; Sonoma Valley Teen Services; The Ceres Community Project and Valley of the Moon Children’s Home Foundation.

For more information on the Sonoma chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities, visit Sonoma.SpeedwayCharities.org or contact Cheri Plattner at cplattner@SonomaRaceway.com or 933-3950.