#Racing4Miracles: Stanley Team Race for CF Children

The professional racer Carl Edwards and the Nº 19 Stanley race team spent a Sunday racing to fundraise and help sick children, including those with cystic fibrosis (CF). The team participated on May 15, at the Dover International Speedway and if they win, the company Stanley Black & Decker said it would donate $1 million to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals through the Ace Hardware Foundation.

The initiative was part of the 10th Annual “Racing for a Miracle” program, during which Carl Edwards and the Nº 19 Stanley team played games, gave pit stop demonstrations and shared smiles with the children of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. The group visited the facility in Baltimore on Thursday, May 12 and are now continuing their journey to the speedway.

The funding will be granted to the Ace Hardware Foundation, which is the official charitable division of Ace Hardware Corporation and works to present philanthropic opportunities to its consumers, retail store owners, vendors, and team members, including the Stanley Black & Decker company. Their fundraising efforts were directed to both the American Red Cross Disaster Relief and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center is the largest children’s hospital in Maryland and it has dozens of pediatric subspecialties, such as allergy, cardiology, cystic fibrosis, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, neurosurgery, oncology, pulmonary and transplant. Due to a genetic defect, cystic fibrosis makes patients have very salty-tasting skin, persistent coughing, at times with phlegm, frequent lung infections including pneumonia or bronchitis, wheezing or shortness of breath, poor growth or weight gain in spite of a good appetite, frequent greasy, bulky stools or difficulty with bowel movements, and male infertility.

Whether living with a chronic disease such as cystic fibrosis or staying temporarily at the hospital, Edwards said he admired the strength and courage of children being treated at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “These activities with the kids at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center serve as another reminder that we should never stop helping children’s hospitals, which rely on donations to care for kids,” said the racer in a press release.

On Friday, Carl Edwards and representatives from Stanley and Ace Foundation donated the initial $100,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. During the presentation, the professional racer also announced the team that accompanied him on Sunday, which included four children as “Honorary Crew Members.”