KHOU11, Houston’s leading local news station, reported on Dec. 4th that one of the state’s largest living Christmas trees was the center of Texas Motor Speedway’s holiday charity event in Fort Worth Tuesday night. The 74-foot, 7,000-lb. Norway spruce was lit with over 10,000 LED lights during the Speedway Children’s Charities grant event where more than $258,000 was distributed to nine North Texas children’s organizations. Among the grants the largest was a Founder’s Grant for $139,847 given to the Sci-Tech Discovery Center in Frisco. The grant will be used to commence its Mobile Maker Space, a workshop on wheels that will consist of a van and 16-foot trailer outfitted with the essential tools and kits to operate on-site programs. The Mobile Maker Space will bring opportunities to schools and children who otherwise would be unable to visit the Sci-Tech Discovery Center. With services accessible to 10,000 children in the Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties, the Sci-Tech Discovery Center was created to engage and inspire students of all ages and backgrounds and allow them to embrace discovery and innovation through the active exploration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In addition to Sci-Tech Discovery Center Founder’s Grant, those grants of $15,000 or more were awarded to:
• Callier Center For Communication Disorders ($25,000) – Serving 51 children in Dallas County, these funds will underwrite the cost of their Cochlear Implant Summer Camps, a vital component of their pediatric treatment services.
• Camp Summit, Inc. ($25,000) – Serving 550-plus children in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties, this grant will support the campership and financial assistance project at Camp Summit.
• Texas Motor Speedway Speeding To Read Program ($21,144.50) – This donation was used to assist participating schools with T-shirts to more than 12,000 students in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
• Health Services Of North Texas, Inc. ($15,210) – Serving 100 children in Denton County, this grant will provide uninsured pediatric patients living in poverty with essential medical visits at no cost to their families.
The other organizations receiving grants on Tuesday night were NASCAR Ride of a Lifetime ($13,050), Breakthrough at Fort Worth Country Day ($10,000), ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship ($9,000), and the 50/50 Raffle Fundraiser for Nonprofits ($1,683.75).
ABOUT SPEEDWAY CHILDREN’S CHARITIES
Since 1997, Speedway Children’s Charities at Texas Motor Speedway has distributed more than $10 million in funding to non-profit organizations in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties supporting children in need. The funds distributed by Speedway Children’s Charities are raised through special events held throughout the year. Most of Speedway Children’s Charities events are geared around the three major race weeks at Texas Motor Speedway. To learn more visit their website.
