CONCORD, N.C. – Bread, bananas and…mayonnaise?
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s favorite sandwich took social media by storm Tuesday when the driver posted the below tweet showing the ingredients.
The picture stirred up quite the reaction on Twitter as other drivers, fans and even national news outlets -- such as ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “TODAY,” and CNN’s “Morning Express with Robin Meade” -- responded to Earnhardt with their favorite sandwiches as well as photos and videos of their attempt at making the interesting recipe.
“I was shocked – in a completely good way – at how much attention this picture received Tuesday night,” Earnhardt said. “I got a kick out of watching the videos of people trying the sandwich for the first time. Even if they didn’t like it, I appreciated that they gave it a shot.
The online reaction is what got Earnhardt thinking of a bigger picture.
“The whole thing got me thinking that whether you like the sandwich or not, perhaps we could make something universally positive from this,” he said.
Announced today via JR Motorsport’s weekly video series, JRM 360, Earnhardt has decided to turn this sandwich notoriety into an opportunity to help feed hungry children.
The Kannapolis, N.C. native launched a website called DaleJrSandwich.com where people can donate money to benefit Blessings in a Backpack – a national, non-profit organization which packs food for school children who are at risk of facing hunger on the weekends.
The site will be live until April 23 – the day Earnhardt will race the No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway.
With donations being accepted for two weeks, Earnhardt has pledged to match the total donation up to $50,000.
“Just a few months ago we went to a local school in Kannapolis (N.C.) to hand out backpacks of food for kids, so I’ve seen firsthand the impact,” the driver said. “I hope we can take the fun conversations we’ve had about the sandwich and turn it into an impactful fundraiser to help feed kids.”
Have you given the banana-and-mayonnaise sandwich a try yet? To help promote the campaign on social media, use the hashtag #DaleJrSandwich.