Although our efforts in 2020 may look a little different, the goal of our Speediatrics Fun Day Festivals remain the same — to have a lasting impact on the children we serve. 
Prior to each of our Speediatrics Fun Day Festivals, participating children receive tools to help them get active and create a habit of living a healthier lifestyle. By teaching children the importance of eating healthy and getting active, we are creating unique and fun experiences that help children realize the importance of being healthy – all through the lens of NASCAR.
For the third year, we returned to the Chicagoland Speedway market with our Speediatrics Fun Day Festival through a new partnership with Greater Joliet Area YMCA, a nonprofit dedicated to helping kids build a healthy spirt, mind and body. Over the course of a few weeks during summer camp, the kids learned about the sport of NASCAR, while also understanding how to lead a happier and healthier lifestyle.
More than 100 children from kindergarten to 8th grade participated in the programming provided by The NASCAR Foundation. These lessons included insights on the sport of NASCAR, pit crews, ways to lead healthy lifestyles and the ability to customize their own NASCAR firesuits and cars.
“My favorite thing today was filling out my hero card and designing my own cool looking car!” shared Jaxon (age 8).
What’s your brand?😎
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The kids at @JolietY loved designing their very own #NASCAR firesuit and helmet in their activity book during our #Speediatrics programming two weeks ago 🏁 #ForTheKids pic.twitter.com/LGGFEB4Z0d— The NASCAR Foundation (@NASCAR_FDN) August 3, 2020
To get the kids motivated and active, the Foundation delivered Speediatrics Fit Kits to each child, which included different tools to get them moving. To measure their movement, the Foundation gave the kids their own pedometer watches to track their steps daily. In total, the participants completed 8,319,988 steps!
Noah, age 9, thrived during the step challenge, completing a total of 131,610 steps!
Not only did Noah enjoy getting active by tracking his steps, but he also loved learning more about the different warm up and cool down exercises taught by our NASCAR drivers.
“I will use the skills I learned during the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival to improve my martial arts practice,” shared Noah.
These children are learning valuable skills and habits to help them thrive in their everyday lives. C.W. Avery Family YMCA Youth and Family Director Shannon Stawikowski said, “the resources fit perfectly with the Y’s efforts to keep kids healthy and active.”
“This program was an amazing addition to our Summer Day Camp program,” said Shannon Stawikowski. “It has kept many children excited to come back to camp each day in anticipation of what we had planned for them next.”
The impact continues… Through our Speediatrics Children’s Fund, The NASCAR Foundation provides grants to our partner charities to support their mission of helping children in our racing communities.
The Foundation’s grant to the Greater Joliet Area YMCA will be used towards their two summer camps – Summer Day Camp Garden and Summer Day camp. Both of these programs support the promotion of healthy lifestyles for kids in summer camp this year, including swim lessons and gardening lessons.
The Y would like to thank The NASCAR Foundation for providing a $9,250 grant through its Speediatrics Grant Program to…
Posted by C.W. Avery Family YMCA on Saturday, August 22, 2020
The NASCAR Foundation’s Speediatrics Fun Day Festival in the Chicagoland market is the first of 5 events to take place through the Speediatrics Children’s Fund in 2020. Stay tuned for more information about our events in Talladega, Daytona, Indianapolis and Martinsville.
