The Racing Heroes Charity Auction was established in 1997 as an annual fund raiser to assist families who have children in long term care situations at the Duke Children's Hospital Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit.
100% of all money raised at this event goes to families in need. This money is prioritized and administered by the PBMT Family Support Program and a Social Worker who works exclusively with the unit.
A coalition of local businessmen and over 40 Nascar and Busch Series Race Teams are working together to make the 2008 auction the best ever. Over 200 items including Nascar sheet metal, driver and crew uniforms, artwork, and vintage memorabilia will be sold to the highest bidder to support The Racing Heroes Fund.
This year we have been so blessed to have so many great Corporate sponsors that we are sure to have the best year ever. A special thanks to all the contributions by Ray Price Harley-Davidson for the last Auction, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Sports Radio 850 the Buzz, Grocery Boy JR Nascar Collectables, Triangle Auto Sales, Don's Auction Barn, Fairway Printing, Inc., Pizza Hut, Sam's Club, DynaGraphics Screen Printing Inc., Jeffries and Sons Marine, Carter Glass Nationwide Insurance, Hawley's Camping Center, B.G. Construction Home Services, L.T. Bennett Construction, "The Big Picture Art and Framing " and more.
The PBMT Family Support Program was formed in 1997 to assist families with the special needs inherent to long term treatment for cancer, leukemia and other immune deficiency diseases that require bone marrow or stem cell transplants as the only chance for survival.
The pressures of maintaining a home while financing a minimum 4 to 6 month stay in Durham places a tremendous amount of stress on the family unit. Adding to this, the high mortality rate associated with such high risk procedures made the formation of a family support program a much needed priority.
The Family Support Programs work with over 30 families at any given time to assist with logistics, agency referrals, and training of volunteers. However there is absolutely no budget to assist families financially in emergency situations. Even daily subsistence becomes a problem for many families.
Thus The Racing Heroes Charity Auction was born!!!
In the last 10 years over $170,000 has been distributed to families on the unit through The Racing Heroes Fund
We have given money for food, children's birthday parties, car repairs and more. We have kept homes from being foreclosed. We have bought a plane ticket so that a father from Alabama could see his dying son one last time. Hundreds of families have been helped by the Family Support Program and the proceeds produced by The Racing Heroes Charity Auction.
These are items not found on any hospital budget. You CAN make a difference!!!
