(Concord, NC ) – Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, Speedway Motorsports Incorporated (SMI) President and Chief Operating Officer Marcus Smith, and AARP Foundation President Jo Ann Jenkins today announced SMI’s commitment to donate food for the remainder of the 2012 race season on behalf of Drive to End Hunger, a national campaign to address the problem of older adult hunger in America.
“Teaming up with AARP Foundation’s Drive to End Hunger is a great way to help the communities where our speedways are located,” said Smith. “We’re excited to do our part and make a difference across the country.”
Levy Restaurants, SMI’s food and beverage concessions operator, is donating extra food items from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races it services to local food banks on behalf of Drive to End Hunger. AARP Foundation will help identify and work with local food banks to receive the donations, which are expected to include bread, produce and other food items. Following this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, SMI and Levy Restaurants will donate extra food to Opportunity House in Concord.
“There are nearly nine million Americans age 50+ who face the risk of hunger, and it’s a big country,” said Jenkins. “These donations by SMI and Levy Restaurants will go a long way toward helping hungry people from Charlotte to Sonoma, and from New Hampshire to Texas.”
Since AARP and AARP Foundation launched Drive to End Hunger, the multi-year initiative has donated nearly 8 million meals and driven individual and corporate donor commitments with an expected value of $16.1 million. This week, AARP Foundation brought together volunteers for the Drive to End Hunger Charlotte 1 Million, which packaged and donated one million nutritious meals to food banks across North Carolina.
“This season has been one of the strangest I’ve ever experienced on the track but, off the track, we’re on a great run in raising awareness and support for people who struggle to put food on the table,” said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. “I’m proud to be here with SMI and AARP Foundation to keep that run going.”
To get involved or learn more, please visit www.DriveToEndHunger.org.
AARP Foundation
AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the Foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people, work more efficiently and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is the charitable affiliate of AARP. Learn more at www.aarpfoundation.org.
CONTACT
AARP Media Relations, 202-434-2560
