Hi guys. I bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the earth. :) Nope, you cant get rid of me this quick. We've been busy. And now, I have good news for everyone. In fact lots of news.
1. We will be filing with the IRS Jan 1st, 2012 for our 501(c)3 tax exempt status. We will have the funds raised by then and we're going to go ahead and do the filing. About 80 pages of information we have gotten ready with the help of the Axis Group I, LLC(http://www.axisgroup1.net/index.htm). These guys have been really helpful in this endeavor and they will be helping us in the grant writing areas also.
2. Also, the Axis Group has informed us that we will be elgible for a small grant as soon as we get our 501c3 status. Small, but it will be able to help pay back some expenses we've acquired and to purchase at least 1 more simulator, 1 kart and if the building is still available, a 6 month lease on a store front downtown to house the base for the Racing Dreamz Foundation. We are also working on purchasing(thru some creative means, nothing illegal, dont worry), 50+ acres for the tracks. More to come on that later.
3. Along with this small grant, we'll be able to apply for numerous other small grants and micro grants. These will be able to allow us to keep the RD functioning.
4. Public fundraising. Now so far we've been running around blind trying to figure out how to do this and it seemed that everytime we took one step forward, we got knocked back 2. So, we're going to do things a bit differently. Donna and I will be making and decorating ornamental wreaths. We've had 10 years experience in this. So, we will offer college sports themed, American, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc., decorated 14" grapevine wreaths. These normally cost anywhere from $45 and up in floral shops. We'll offer them at a lower price. They will be on our website and will be offered on both Craigslist and Ebay. Also, we have a wonderful source for Tshirts. We just found out about this today. I dont have $$ figures yet, but I was assured they will be great quality but "cheap". As in inexpensive. So, thanks to our good friend Jim Eagan, he has designed a new logo and sent me the Adobe Illustrated file for it. That file will be forwarded to the Tshirt maker tomorrow. Ideas on how to use this logo(added images, etc), are welcomed. First, the kids will get at least two of these shirts to wear to school. Donna and I will have at least two and if anyone of you want some, please let me know how many and what size. I dont have a cost yet, but I will shortly. The kids will be free to them of course. Sorry, we have to pay for ours. :) We are planning other fundraising events that will be centered around the Bristol Motor Speedway next March when the Nascar race is in town. More to come on that.
5. Speaking of kids. We have officially three enrolled. Two boys, A.J., age 11, Blaine, age 16., and a girl, Mandy, age 8. Great kids but with a very minor 'special needs'. We will be accepting more as time is allowed to us. Along with these special needs kids, we are accepting other kids, that has the desire to both learn the racing environment AND to help others in need. This will be most important. The desire to be a part of something that helps kids that need it. Pictures and a short bio of the kids will be up on the website soon. This way, if anyone ask, you can point to "our" kids' page.
So, you can see, we've been working, planning and trying to get the Racing Dreamz Foundation off the ground. We feel that the year 2012 will be our official 'coming out' year. I have asked Borla Exhaust to let us be a part of their event next year also. I have contacted the Carter County Tourism Board about the 1st Annual Elizabethton Grand Prix. They are very excited about this possibility of this and are anxious to talk more with us. So, you never know. We may be asking each of you to be corner workers or something at the grand prix race in the future. ;)
Stay tuned for more info and if God willing, we'll be off and racing next year.
