Speedway Motorsports employees put their commitment to community service on full display Wednesday, with more than 50 volunteers lending more than 200 hours of labor to three Cabarrus County nonprofits as part of the company’s sixth annual Day of Service.
Volunteers from Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SMI Properties pitched in at Wings of Eagles Ranch and two Piedmont Residential Development Center locations. Throughout the morning, activities ranged from landscaping and barn demolitions to painting and beautification projects. Additional volunteers at the Speedway packed “Bags of Hope” to support victims of human trafficking for the Safe House Project
“At Speedway Motorsports, one of our core principles is to invest in and support our community,” said Greg Walter, executive vice president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Today is a great example of that. Our annual day of service is something we look forward to every year. We take our resources and skill sets and apply them in abundance to charities in our community.”
Teams of volunteers worked at Piedmont Residential Development Centers (PRDC) in Concord and Kannapolis. PRDC is a nonprofit that provides residential care for those with severe mental and physical disabilities. Crews installed a beautiful sensory garden, including a new water feature, plants and fresh mulch, and painted common areas for residents.
“Today is so much more than landscaping,” said Sandy Cox, executive director at PRDC. “Looking out over this beautiful garden, now I see through my residents' eyes how much this means to them to have this area of tranquility.”
Additional Speedway Motorsports volunteers spent the morning cleaning up Wings of Eagles Ranch, a therapeutic horse ranch in Cabarrus County. The facility provides families with special needs children and adults, along with at-risk youth, the opportunity to gain strength and balance as well as self-esteem and self-confidence through equine therapy. Projects at Wings of Eagles included landscaping and removing a dilapidated barn from the facility.
“What is happening today could not happen without Charlotte Motor Speedway behind it,” said Christine Cronon, founder and executive director at Wings of Eagles Ranch. “The jobs that we put in place for when they come out are the big jobs that we don’t have volunteers to do. It is over-the-top amazing what they are doing for us today.”
Volunteers at Charlotte Motor Speedway also packed 60 “Bags of Hope” to be donated to the Safe House Project. This project is an anti-trafficking non-profit whose mission is to increase survivor identification beyond one percent through education. They also provide emergency services and placement to survivors to ensure every survivor can access safe housing and holistic care.
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