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John Andretti
carries the Literacy logo on his car this weekend in Fontana
Photo
courtesy Dodge |
Starting out the
weekend’s festivities at California Speedway in Fontana was a
breakfast for over 400 elementary school kids from the Fontana
School District sponsored by Team Cheerios and Betty Crocker. John
Andretti, driver of the No. 43 Cheerios Dodge was the special guest.
Andretti, read from a
book “Adventures of Erasmus Twiddle” that was being handed out to
all the children in attendance while they were treated to breakfast
and prizes. This event is part of the weekend promotion from
Cheerios and it’s commitment to childhood literacy. This weekend the
#43 car will have something different on it’s hood and that is a
promotion for childhood literacy and Team Cheerios and First Book, a
national children’s literacy organization, will donate 43 books per
lap to children in need in the Fontana and Los Angeles California
area.
“As a father myself, I
know the importance of reading and the critical role it plays in
children wanting to learn,” Andretti said. He and his wife Nancy
have three children, two in elementary school.
If Andretti completes all 500 miles on Sunday, 10,750 books will be
donated to children participating in Boys and Girls Club of Fontana,
Sivaland Head Start and The Agape House, in Fontana and LA’s Best,
an after-school program in Los Angeles.
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Kevin Sandoval |
All the children were
very excited to be at the breakfast. So excited, that they forgot
they were there to listen as Andretti read to them, except for nine
year old Kevin Sandoval of Fontana. Kevin listened attentively to
Andretti and was rewarded by the Cheerios driver who acknowledged
his good listening skills and signed the book he was reading and
gave it to the youngster. A fourth grader, Kevin was excited to be
chosen but admitted that he prefers horror stories to the book that
was given to him. Sandoval, a fan of NASCAR, told this writer that
his favorite driver is Jeff Gordon but he thought Andretti was
pretty cool.
Andretti and Petty
Enterprises are partnering in this effort in the Auto Club 500 by
encouraging children to read more, and by reaching out to help
others. For further information in the program you can contact the
Williams Company of America at
www.williamscompany.com.
The author can be contacted nascar@autoracing1.com
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