iNSIDE SCOOP: Worthy Causes

Tuesday night in Charlotte, there was a meeting of racing folk.

It wasn’t at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it wasn’t at the NASCAR HQ building and it wasn’t even at Whisky River, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s night spot in the Epicentre.

It was at 5 Church, a trendy little spot near Trade & Tryon, the main intersection in Uptown, and the primary theme was pink.

This is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, after all, and everyone wears pink to call attention to the plight of a particularly cruel and debilitating disease. Smiling at the door of 5 Church were Kyle and Samantha Busch, alongside Dr. Lisa Tolnitch, founder of Pretty in Pink, an organization which uses sponsorships, donations and other efforts to raise money to help breast-cancer sufferers in the state of North Carolina.

The event, dubbed “Project Pink: Protect Your Pair,” featured the Busches and their Kyle Busch Foundation, representatives from Toyota, Sprint, Joe Gibbs Racing, the NASCAR Foundation, Interstate Batteries, M&M’S, Monster Energy, Gunbroker.com and several more. The purpose was to raise money for Pretty in Pink.

A silent auction was the highlight of the night, along with the sponsorship the companies above had given to purchase tables for the soiree, and 100 percent of the proceeds went to Pretty in Pink. The hosts were ecstatic at the turnout, and said the event was more than a year in the making.

 “This is the first time we’ve done something like this with the Foundation,” said Kyle, sitting in the front room at 5 Church alongside his wife. “This is the culmination of a year of planning, and it’s something that is very important to us in terms of an opportunity to help people in need. Throughout the year, our Foundation helps a variety of children’s charities, and this is something different and very worthwhile.”

The Pretty in Pink Foundation was founded by Tolnitch, principal at Tolnitch Surgical Associates, and Pretty in Pink’s mission is to provide financial assistance to uninsured and underinsured breast cancer patients for surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy administration.

This is the first NASCAR program the group has initiated, said Pretty in Pink’s Amanda Danchi, the marketing and communications coordinator for the group.

“We’re already thrilled with the partnership of Kyle and Samantha,” she said. “This is the first time we’ve been able to get with NASCAR, and we have a special paint scheme for Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event (the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry Busch drives will have a special paint scheme featuring pink as a predominant color with the full blessing of Monster), and we’ll have 12 or 13 of our Champions on the track for the start of the race with Kyle and Samantha.”

The proceeds from Tuesday night’s dinner/auction will go toward paying medical bills for those Champions, which is what Pretty in Pink calls its recipients.

“We wanted to go a little beyond just awareness,” said Samantha Busch of the program. “NASCAR is very involved with the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with a lot of pink cars out there on the track. We wanted to take it one step further and help our local neighbors who are fighting cancer now.

“The Pretty in Pink Foundation just touched my heart with the many ways they help their Champions throughout the process,” she continued. “I don’t want to have these brave women having to decide between putting food on the table, taking care of their children or paying for chemotherapy.”

Samantha Busch said the fact that Pretty in Pink serves patients inside the state of North Carolina was a major selling point for her.

“One main component of Pretty in Pink services is that they pay medical bills locally in the state,” she said. “As we were reading through the bios, we realized they are right here in our community—faces we can identify with—and that made us all realize this was the perfect fit for our campaign.” 

Kyle said that Samantha was the driving force behind the dinner/auction, and all the planning and coordination it took to present. There’s more, to be sure.

In addition to the Tuesday activities, the special paint scheme on Friday will increase awareness through local media and NASCAR’s broadcast partners. A program hat and T-shirt is on sale through Dec. 1 at KyleBuschFoundation.org and 100 percent of the proceeds will go toward fundraising. A Mobile Mammogram Screening Unit will be on hand at KBM’s race shop in Mooresville on Thursday, from 1-7 p.m., with appearances by both Kyle and Samantha, KBM drivers and sponsor representatives.

Toyota Racing donated part of its footprint at Charlotte Motor Speedway to the program, which will allow Pretty in Pink ample space to distribute information and promote awareness.

“Without the support of people like Kyle and Samantha and the Foundation, we would not be able to help those in North Carolina who need us so desperately,” said Tolnitch. “No one should have to choose between paying the rent and paying for breast cancer treatments.”

Those payments can be back-breaking. Full coverage of all medical expenses for a single year can run $12,000, six or seven radiation/oncology treatments cost $2,500 and a chemotherapy treatment costs $1,200. In today’s uncertain times, that’s a back-breaker for sure.

For more information on the Pretty in Pink Foundation, visit their web site at www.prettyinpinkfoundation.org, and to see what the Kyle Busch Foundation is up to, visit www.KyleBuschFoundation.org.