Two new charities selected for Helmet of Hope

CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 6, 2010) – The Racingawareness.com Foundation (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Care Ring (Charlotte, N.C.) are the two latest programs to be featured on the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Samsung Helmet of Hope. MRN Radio's Jeff Striegle nominated the Racingawareness.com Foundation in support of the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. Racingawareness.com is a brand new foundation working in partnership with selected children's charities to raise awareness and funds for programs that receive minimal or no third party reimbursement. Racing Awareness's 2010 fundraising recipient is the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. "Inspired by children and families faced with life changing illnesses, I established the RacingAwareness.com Foundation (RA), to raise awareness and funds to support children's charities in Grand Rapids, Michigan," Striegle explained. "RA has aggressive fundraising goals and while we have a number of programs in place, the (Samsung) Helmet of Hope grant would greatly enhance RA's ability to support organizations supporting children and their families during uncertain times related to a physical illness of a child." Doug Neely of Charlotte, N.C. nominated Care Ring, which empowers individuals with limited resources to achieve and maintain good health. Care Ring's Nurse Family Partnership, which works to give newborn children a solid start, will benefit from the grant. One of the primary goals of the Nurse Family Partnership is to improve child health and development by helping parents provide responsible and competent care. "Our program pairs nurse "case workers" with first time, low-income mothers to guide them through their pregnancy and the first year of being a mother," Neely said. "This program is new to our area but is backed by evidence-based research to demonstrate it breaks the cycle of poverty and poor health in this population. We recently changed our name to Care Ring and the exposure would be huge for the organization and the mothers and children we serve." Care Ring and the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital each will receive a $10,000 grant. In its third year, the Helmet of Hope program is a partnership of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, Samsung and Lowe's. Fans and media members across the country have the opportunity to nominate their children's charity of choice to be featured on Johnson's helmet for a select race. New this year, selected charities will also receive a grant of $10,000. This partnership is part of the Samsung Hope for Children program, a corporate giving program that aligns athletes and retail partners to help children learn, live and thrive. Johnson will draw one winner from a list of media submissions and one from a list of fan submissions each race weekend through the Atlanta event in September. Current selected charities include: Beads of Courage (Tucson, Ariz.), Hunter's Hope Foundation (Orchard Park, N.Y.), Foundation for Faces of Children (Brookline, Mass.) and The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (Santa Barbara, Calif.) They join the Feeding America® Kids Café program, which was nominated by Samsung to kick-off this year's campaign program. The Kids Café program works to address the growing epidemic facing children's hunger. Fans and media members may nominate their charity by visiting www.helmetofhope.org For more information about the most recently selected charities, visit www.racingawareness.com and www.careringnc.org.