On Thursday, July 23 I was fortunate to attend an event in Chicago where the Office Depot Foundation and NASCAR star Tony Stewart joined forces to donate 5,000 backpacks to non-profit organizations and schools in the Indianapolis area.

Speedway Children's Charities is proud to be a part of the backpack program with Office Depot and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet several of the other recipients for the program.  We will be giving out the backpacks to deserving children in the community.  We would like to thank Tony Stewart and Office Depot for their dedication to children across the country in providing the necessary supplies for a better education.

Thanks again to all involved.

Sincerely,

Sandy Hutto
National Director of New Business Development and Marketing
Speedway Children's Charities

After watching race after race for several years, Cole had the opportunity to see his first real race at the Coca Cola 600 in May of this year. For our "special" son Cole , it was an unbelievable dream come true.

The excitement he felt from the first moment we drove up and saw the stadium to his last goodbyes, was an extraordinary excitement. Cole communicates to us through a variety of modes including some sign language, verbal sounds, gestures and expressions, and with the aide of a powerful communication device, known to us as his "talker". That weekend, he used all methods to communicate to us his extreme joy for being able to see first hand, the love of his life, NASCAR racing.

Upon returning to school the next day, his teachers told us that he could not wait to use his "talker" to tell of all the things he saw at the race--- pit row, the checkered flag, the drivers (by their names), and how he heard his favorite words ever -- "gentlemen, start your engines". It is an excitement that we have continued to talk about weeks after the event, and will likely for months to come!

Our sincere thanks to all those who helped coordinate such a wonderful weekend for our family, truly our son's dream come true.

The Jeffries
Mark, Sharon, Maddy and Cole