News
15th Jul 2011
Pocono Raceway Forms new Relationship with Access Sports
The Pocono International Raceway not only presented Sprint Cup and ARCA races during the 5-Hour ENERGY 500 weekend in early June, the track also hosted its annual Kid’s Day as well. What began as an intern’s idea and a single gazebo has developed into a multi-faceted fun and educational event that spans across several pavilions in the track’s Chalet Village behind the front straight-a-way. On the morning of Saturday, June 11th, young race fans had the opportunity to meet competitors from the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, get their face painted, compete in a remote control car race and learn about fire prevention and helmet safety among several other activities. Judging by the turnout, it was yet another successful year.
“We don’t have an exact number because we don’t count those who come into the designated event area” explains Ben May, who is in charge of concession operations at the track and ran this year’s Kid’s Day event. “I would estimate that about three or four thousand people came through during the four hour period. We gave away thousands of tickets to 501c-3 (non-profit) organizations as well. Everyone who received tickets were able to attend Sprint Cup qualifying and the ARCA race as a part of the package.”
Even though anyone with kids could attend the festivities, the raceway makes a special effort to reach out to those who normally could not attend NASCAR events, hence the importance of the participation of non-profit establishments. “Ensuring the involvement of these organizations gives them another unique way to interact and reach out to their members” said May.
One such non-profit entity is a Philadelphia based organization called Access Sports (http://access-sports.org/), which provides sports tickets and clinics to social service agencies and schools serving underprivileged children and youth groups, and individuals with physical and/or mental health disabilities. While those served by Access Sports have attended events such as baseball games, horse shows and tennis matches in the greater Philadelphia area and even some NASCAR races at Dover, a trip to Pocono was a brand new experience. “This is a game changer for them” remarked Alyson Harris, the founder and director for Access Sports. “Any time a new venue is opened to us through an event such as Kid’s Day, it just gives us yet another opportunity to provide to these individuals.”
Donnie was a young representative from Access Sports who attended Kid’s Day. At one point, he emerged from the Legends Car on display and exclaimed “Donnie wins!” as if he just jumped out into victory lane. Judging by the reactions of the rest of the attendees, it appeared that everybody won.
“We don’t make any money off of this event. In fact, we don’t even charge the vendors who want to set up a display” said May. “We do this event because it is the right thing to do.”
The day wasn’t just about fun and racing, it’s also about learning. The vendors that May referenced included Eastern Monroe County Bookmobile, a burn house to teach kids how to escape a fire and displays from local hospitals to teach kids about head safety among other useful lessons. May stated that due to the rural surroundings of the racetrack, he has to rely on word of mouth to generate interest, and it certainly works. “The United Way, which we work with, has 20 or 30 partner agencies. We have business to business contacts and foundations we work with. The Mattioli family members (who own the facility) are charitable when it comes to the Pocono Medical Center and the Lehigh Valley Hospital system. So we reach out to our contacts, and then they reach out theirs and as a result, our event gets a little bigger every year”.
That trend will have a chance to continue in 2012 as May envisions this event lasting for years to come. “We’re going to continue this program for a long time, no question about it. It will always take place around our June race and as long as it is successful and fun, we’ll continue to do it.”
Judging by the feedback from Donnie, Access Sports will no doubt be a part of that future. “I look forward to arranging a bigger group next year” said Harris. I think it is a great thing that they are doing and I am certain that our relationship with Pocono Raceway will continue to grow because of it.”
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Tony Lumbis
570-239-3761
