MARTINSVILLE, Va. (December 21, 2011) – Kevin Harvick could easily be spending his short offseason in some exotic resort, resting up from the grueling NASCAR Sprint Cup season.
But instead the popular NASCAR driver and his wife DeLana have kept busy much of the past couple of weeks working to make Christmas better for needy children, and for the second straight year their work has helped children in Martinsville and Henry County.
The Kevin Harvick Foundation donated about 125 toys to the Martinsville Speedway Toy Drive on Tuesday. Those toys will be distributed to needy youngsters by Christmas Cheer of Martinsville and Henry County
The Harvicks live about 35 miles south of Martinsville Speedway and often refer to Martinsville Speedway as their “home track.” They have partnered with Martinsville Speedway on several events, but the toy donation is their way of giving back to the Martinsville and Henry County area.
“Kevin is a such a competitor on the track. We saw that here last spring when he passed Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. to win the Goody’s 500 here,” Martinsville Speedway President W. Clay Campbell said of Harvick. “But away from the track he and DeLana have such big hearts. Living so close to Martinsville, they understand the problems we have in this area, that we’ve got almost 20 percent unemployment and Christmas is an especially tough time.”
The Kevin Harvick Foundation and radio station 93.1 The Wolf sponsored a month long toy-drive and fundraising concert last week at Johnny and June’s in Winston-Salem, NC, featuring country music stars Jake Owen and the Eli Young Band. The main beneficiaries of the successful event were foster children in Guilford and Forsyth counties, but the Harvicks made sure some of the toys made their way to Martinsville and Henry County.
“We are thankful for all the support we’ve gotten from fans in the Martinsville area over the years and this is just a small way we can pay them back,” said Harvick. “We are extremely lucky to have received such amazing support through the toy-drive concert. The holidays can be hard and we hope all of these kids will know there are many people that care about them.”
