Dale Earnhardt Jr. is undoubtedly one of the most loved drivers NASCAR has seen. What led to his fame and popularity wasn’t just his skills as a racer, but his off-track activities as well. Over the last two decades, much of his work outside the car has been toward philanthropy. Following through on that in 2023, the Dale Jr. Foundation raised over a million dollars to aid the nearly 70 charitable organizations that are associated with it.
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Beginning in 2007, the foundation has been the face through which Dale Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt have earned great goodwill. Raising over $11 million through these years, they now add a further $1.3 million to their numbers. The Make-A-Wish Foundation and Pinky Swear Foundation are among the many organizations that received help through these funds.
Kelley Earnhardt, the foundation’s Vice President said, “This has been a tremendous year of giving. Thanks to the generous donations and hard work of so many special people, The Foundation has been able to support a number of impactful and worthwhile causes.” All the charities that benefitted from the Dale Jr. Foundation pay emphasis to its ‘Five Areas of Giving’ – Hope, Hunger, Wellness, Education and Empowerment.
“This has been a tremendous year of giving,” said @EarnhardtKelley, vice president of The Dale Jr. Foundation.
Read about this year’s efforts: https://t.co/rs2aECI00p pic.twitter.com/cWQDItdqBv
— Dale Jr Foundation (@tdjf) December 20, 2023
It was just earlier this week that Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe donated 700 bicycles to the children of his hometown, Mitchell, Indiana. The path of philanthropy that drivers like Dale Jr. and Briscoe have been following is a praiseworthy one and is certain to inspire many more to do the same.
The initiatives that led to the year-end figures of the Dale Jr. Foundation
Talking about his efforts to help people, Dale Jr. said last year, “That was always part of the sport and what you were supposed to do. When you were blessed, you’re supposed to turn around and bless others, allow others to be affected by the good things going on around you. We still try to continue that with the (Dale Jr.) Foundation.”
True to his words, the icon was directly involved in many of the foundation’s initiatives this year. The biggest of them all was the 13th annual Driven To Give gala which raised nearly $450,000. Dale Jr. also drove people around the North Wilkesboro Speedway and the Martinsville Speedway as part of the Ride-Along program, which raised $300,000. From reading books to children to having more than 60 NASCAR drivers participate in the program to fund pediatric research, he put his commitment to the cause on full display.
The love that Dale Jr. gets is something that few drivers in the past and the present can dream of. But then again, fewer can say that they give back to the community as much as he does.
