CONCORD, N.C. -- A couple weeks ago at Phoenix International Raceway, Jimmie Johnson announced the launch of the 2016 Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope campaign, which will award $125,000 to five non-profit organizations in May.
The program, which began in 2008, allows fans and consumers across the country to nominate their favorite education-focused charities, including Parent/Teacher Associations, to receive a $25,000 grant, a Blue Bunny ice cream party, and special recognition on Johnson’s race helmet.
A 2015 grant recipient, The Be Kind People Project, aims to initiate positive social change in educational institutions across the country by providing a youth character development program. In an effort to improve the overall learning environment, the organization equips students with tools to build positive and healthy relationship skills by practicing their pledge:
Be helpful. Be helpful. Be honest. Be considerate. Be thankful. Be responsible. Be respectful. Be a friend.
Bo Whittenton, the organization’s Senior National Director of School and Community Projects & Relationships said they used every last penny of the $25,000 grant they received last year through this program.
As part of their initiative, they send quarterly Classroom Kindness Kits which include items for both students and teachers that encourage their Be Kind message. As a result of the grant, The Be Kind People Project was able to impact a total of 7,036 students and 312 teachers across the country.
The organization has been able to continue all of their additional programs that the grant allowed them to start.
“We just can’t say enough wonderful things about this grant because I think if you can sit down and think about that it’s not just dollars but it’s people, it’s kids, it’s teachers and these students are going to be leading our country one day,” Whittenton said. “And if we can let them have a voice right now and let them learn that they can have a voice – and practice the tenants of the pledge in our case – then we feel like we’re off on a very good foot.”
Already donating more than $810,000 to 81 different charities, the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program is now accepting nominations for this year’s grants.
Whittenton said that the nomination process was easy as well as fun.
“If there is a non-profit who is making a difference and impacting K-12 students then they need to be nominated,” she said. “Find a teacher who really loves what you’re doing, find a superintendent, find a parent; someone who has been directly impacted and have them write a nomination. It’s not a long process, it’s not a hard process. When you believe in something it’s very easy to write from your heart and I think that’s what people need to do.”
Mike Wells, president and CEO of Wells Enterprises, maker of Blue Bunny Ice Cream, said it’s been rewarding to see the ways in which the Helmet of Hope grant has been able to impact the recipients’ missions in relation to education.
“The really rewarding thing is because we’ve chosen to run a successful business and because we’ve chosen to say that part of our moral fabric of Wells Enterprises and the Blue Bunny brand is to find meaningful ways to give back,” Wells said, “that really fits that bill. And to see how that’s impacted people, you just think about what somebody like The Be Kind People Project does and how it encourages people to literally be kind and to reach out and to do good things for other people and to make a difference in somebody else’s life. It’s that whole paying it forward opportunity as a result of giving that grant.”
Both Whittenton and Wells encourage anyone who can to nominate a non-profit who is helping to make a difference in the country’s education system.
Nominations will be accepted at www.jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org through Thursday, April 14. Ten semifinalists will be selected from these nominations. The public vote to choose the final five grant recipients will take place April 29 – May 6.