The Kentucky Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities (SCC) hosted its 3rd Annual Night of Giving on Tuesday, December 6, 2016. The event was a celebration of the twenty organizations identified to receive grant funding from SCC this year, which included the following:
Buckhorn Children and Family Services (Buckhorn, KY)
The Center for Courageous Kids (Scottsville, KY)
Clark County Youth Shelter and Family Services (Jeffersonville, IN)
Dare to Care Food Bank (Louisville, KY)
Down Syndrome of Louisville (Louisville, KY)
The Dragonfly Foundation (Cincinnati, OH)
Easter Seals West Kentucky (Paducah, KY)
Educational Excellence Foundation of Gallatin County (Warsaw, KY)
Gallatin County Food Pantry (Warsaw, KY)
God's Pantry Food Bank (Lexington, KY)
Home of the Innocents (Louisville, KY)
HOPE for Gallatin County (Warsaw, KY)
Kids Cancer Alliance (Louisville, KY)
Master Provisions (Florence, KY)
New Perceptions (Edgewood, KY)
Redwood School and Rehabilitation Center (Fort Mitchell, KY)
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Council of Northern Kentucky (Covington, KY)
Special Olympics Kentucky (Frankfort, KY)
UpSpring (Cincinnati, OH)
Wendell Foster's Campus (Owensboro, KY)
Representatives from these local non-profit children's organizations began the evening by mingling with one another and enjoying holiday refreshments. Guests were treated to live music from Billy Brown and Chuck Smith from the Billy Brown Band, a local country group who not only use music as a creative outlet but are also committed to using music to help others in need. For further details on the band, please visit http://billybrowncountry.com/.
Kentucky Speedway General Manager and SCC Kentucky Chapter President Mark Simendinger spoke to the group prior to distributing grant checks to each organization, with assistance from SCC Kentucky Chapter Director Dayna Winslette and a special delivery from Santa Claus.
Attendees signed a thank-you banner that will be displayed by SCC throughout the year to illustrate the partnership between the charity and each grant recipient. After a group photo was taken of the grant recipients, Simendinger, Winslette and members of the SCC Kentucky Board of Trustees, each guest received a special gift from SCC to take home with them at the end of the event.
With help from corporate partners, volunteers, board members, local communities and race fans throughout the region, the Kentucky Chapter was honored to award almost $82,000 in funding this fiscal year.
"Speedway Children's Charities is blessed to be able to distribute funds to non-profit children's organizations that focus on improving the quality of life for children in our local community," said Winslette. "Over the last three years, our chapter has raised and awarded over $225,000 in grant funding, bringing our grand total to $516,000 in funding and assistance that has been distributed throughout our region since our inception in 2011."
Plans for 2017 are already underway. To stay up to date on the Kentucky Chapter's fundraising efforts, follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or Snapchat by searching "SCC Kentucky."