CONCORD, N.C. – Jimmie Johnson has chosen two more charities to adorn his race helmet at Auto Club Speedway in August as part of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Helmet of Hope initiative. The latest winners are The Children’s Fund for Glycogen Storage Disease (Cheshire, Conn.) and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter (Charlotte, NC).
These are the 5th and 6th charities to be selected for the Helmet of Hope Initiative. In conjunction with the Jimmie Johnson Foundation’s second-annual Golf Tournament in San Diego, Calif., race fans and media members nationwide have the opportunity to participate in the Helmet of Hope initiative, allowing them the chance to nominate charities which they feel should be featured on the helmet.
Kathy Graham of Stokesdale, N.C. selected The Children’s Fund for Glycogen Storage Disease, an organization “committed to funding research so that children born with GSD will benefit from early detection, treatment and an eventual cure.” GSD is a rare genetic metabolic disorder centered in the liver. Graham says her daughter, Rylee, has Glycogen Storage Disease and hopes that with increased awareness and research a cure is in the near future. She added, “Researchers are making great advances however so few people even know GSD exists. The Children’s Fund promotes a great motto and I believe it – ‘because every child deserves to be healthy.'” For more information on this organization, visit www.curegsd.org.
SPEED Channel’s John Luzzi nominated the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, which “helps people affected by MS by funding cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services that help people with MS and their families move their lives forward.” Luzzi nominated this charity because he found out in 2003 that at 25 years old he had the early stages of MS. Luzzi said, “Today there is no cure for MS, and with diagnosis occurring most frequently between the ages of 20 and 50, many individuals face a lifetime filled with unpredictability and uncertainty for the future. Getting awareness out to the public and raising money for a cure is my number one priority at this time in my life.” For more information, visit www.nationalmssociety.org.
Fans can nominate their charity by clicking here and explaining why their organization should be chosen.
Johnson will draw two charities each race weekend through the Michigan event in August. For more information, please contact Mary Barr, Jimmie Johnson Foundation,mbarr@jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org or 704.453.2897.