In 2005, UPS Racing announced plans for the #88 UPS Team to race a specially designed car in an effort to support Toys for TotsSM, the philanthropy of choice for The UPS Store®. After the success of the 2005 Toys for Tots campaign, UPS Racing and The UPS Store have decided to team up again in 2006 and will again race a specially painted car.
Dale Jarrett, along with representatives of The UPS Store and Toys for Tots, announced the plans for the 2006 program last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. While the cause is the same, the way it will play out is different, as the design for the car will be determined via a nationwide contest. The "Design Dale's Ride" coloring contest gives children ages 5 -12 a chance to design this year's #88 The UPS Store/Toys for Tots Ford, which NASCAR legend Dale Jarrett will race in the Dickies 500 at Texas in November.
"As a national sponsor, we're glad to have the opportunity to bring awareness to the Toys for Tots program all year long, rather than just during the holidays," said Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. President Stuart Mathis. "Somewhere out there is a young artist just waiting to see his or her design race around the track at over 150 miles per hour."
The UPS Store became a national sponsor of Toys for Tots in 2005, raising nearly $600,000 for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. These monies helped enable the organization to deliver more than 18.4 million toys, books and other gifts to nearly 7.5 million children. Last year, Jarrett raced a The UPS Store/Toys for Tots car with a special paint scheme designed by his children. This year, he is looking to the creativity of kids across the country for the new design.
"I think this is very special for the kids and hopefully kids will find it's something fun to do," Jarrett said. "We've given them basically a white car here to take to put their colors on and their spin on it and I think that they're going to have a great time. I'm really looking forward to seeing these entries that we get. We might even find something that they design that we like better than what we have every week. So we might run more than one paint scheme throughout this, but it's going to be a lot of fun."
Children can pick up a copy of the coloring contest template at participating The UPS Store locations or by visiting www.theupsstore.com. The child who submits the winning entry will receive a trip for two to the race at Daytona on July 1, 2006, where the winning paint scheme will be unveiled. In addition, the winning child will receive a hometown viewing party to watch the car race on November 5 at Texas Motor Speedway. In addition to a custom-fit, autographed racing suit to match the one Dale will wear, the winner will receive a Crayola® prize pack, including Crayola Color ExplosionTM, Crayola TwistablesTM and Crayola Erasable Markers. The winner's school will also receive a prize pack, which includes 10,000 free copies from The UPS Store and a Crayola art supplies package for the art department.
For complete contest details and official rules, visit www.theupsstore.com.
