Holiday of Smiles Preparation Becomes A Family Affair

With as busy as life gets, I treasure every minute I get to spend with my son. On Thursday evening, I was fortunate enough to have a little help from my one year-old Logan getting things ready for our Holiday of Smiles program.

On Saturday, December 20, Holiday of Smiles comes to the Sunrise Hospital Pediatric Oncology Unit in Las Vegas. Speedway Children's Charities has partnered with the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation for their annual Santa's Workshop. SCC will be providing Holiday of Smiles bags filled with Croc's, AFLAC Ducks, AutoTrader cars and other goodies.

Logan decided to help me get these goody bags ready for the kids. Usually Logan's help is not productive help, but on Thursday night he was surprisingly cooperative. He played with the ducks, carried around the bags, and reorganized the Croc's. He seemed to enjoy the work he was doing and I enjoyed watching him mimick my motions.

On Saturday, these goodie bags will be handed out to children in Las Vegas who will be spending the holidays in the hospital fighting cancer. I can only hope that these bags bring a smile to faces of the boys and girls who will be receiving them, a smile as big as the one I had on my face while stuffing them.

Merry Christmas- Happy Holidays.

Janae Melvin
Director
Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charitie

A Successful New Event for SCC

Pit Boss helps PRCA announcer and bowling tournament Co-MC describe raffle prizes and silent auction items during the event.

The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities hosted its inaugural WNFR Celebrity Bowling Tournament on Saturday, December 6th, at The Gold Coast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The bowling tournament benefitted Speedway Children's Charities and the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and brought in over $4,500.00

The event was tied to the annual kickoff weekend of the WNFR and included current and past rodeo champions and participants Will Lowe, Bobby Mote, Gary Leffew, Billy Etbauer, Hunter Herrin, Steven Dent, and Kelly Wardell. Additional celebrities included television star Mickey Jones; Roy Williams of the Dallas Cowboys; country music start Kristy Lee Cook; NASCAR driver Sterling Marlin and film, television and music star Susan Anton and singer Debby Campbell. The event was announced by PRCA personalities Boyd Polhamus and Wayne Brooks.  Bowling participants were randomly matched with a celebrity on the bowling lanes to create an exciting event.

The event was won by Team Coca-Cola, who each walked away with a custom belt buckle donated by Montana Silversmiths.

A special thanks to all of the celebrities, participants and bowlers and sponsors for this first-time event! We look forward to making this an annual event and continue the wonderful support from this fantastic community and all gracious participants.

Speedway Children's Charities (www.speedwaycharities.org) is a non-profit foundation based in Charlotte, N.C., that distributes funds to charities and foundations providing medical, emotional and social services to children in need.

On December 2nd, the Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities distributed more than $290,000 to 66 local causes which directly impact the lives of children in the Las Vegas and southern Nevada region.

Steve Peck
Chairman, Bowling Tournament Committee
Board of Trustees- Speedway Children's Charities

Smiles and excitement were everywhere

Santa arrives in style to the Tree Lighting and Grant Distribution Ceremony

December 2, 2008 was the night of the Annual Speedway Children's Charities Grant Ceremony and Tree Lighting event out at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smiles and excitement were everywhere.

This is one holiday event where kids can be kids, and adults can be happy to have brought them to a party and thrilled to receive additional funds to help assist them with their respective charities!

Speedway Children's Charities - Las Vegas distributed $290,000 to 54 Las Vegas based charities. Santa hopped off a Richard Petty race car, specially decorated with holiday lights, and posed for pictures with all the children. Each child received a gift along with a candy cane and their photo with Santa. There is nothing more heart warming then to see a little child's face light up when they receive their holiday gift!

The event also featured a visit from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman; a heartfelt speech by LVMS President and General Manager Chris Powell; performances Culture Shock- Las Vegas dance troupe and 9th grade(!) vocalist Malia Civetz; along with magician Mr. Dixie Dooley who surprised the kids with thoughts of 'now where did it go?'.

Making a difference in a child's life is the focus of Speedway Children's Charities. Tuesday night did just that and SCC-LV strives to do it again and again every year!

From Loralee Boughton

Vice Chair of the board and chair of the Tree Lighting Ceremony

Thank You

With the holidays approaching, its always a perfect time to reflect on all we have been given and all those who we are fortunate enough to have in our lives.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my board of trustees, sponsors, donors, dedicated volunteers and the staff at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for their support and contributions to Speedway Children's Charities. Everything we as an organization are able to accomplish is because of your tireless dedication and continued support to our mission statement. Thank you for everything you do for the children of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

Janae Melvin
Director
Las Vegas Chapter

Greetings from the Las Vegas Chapter

Greetings from the Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities.  We are so excited you decided to stop by and say hello and learn a little more about our small, but mighty organization.

After a bumpy 2008, our Board of Trustees has refocused and become re-energized, excited about the possibilities 2009 holds.  While things are rough, now is not the time to forget about those that need our help most right now - those children who unfortunately cannot help themselves.  Take time to smile at a child - the smile you'll receive in return can never be matched.  Thank you again for your support and have a great day!

Janae Melvin
Director
Las Vegas Chapter