AdventHealth and NASCAR Play it Forward for Mental Health

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, we partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing Team and their NASCAR drivers, Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch to raise awareness and funds for mental health programs at AdventHealth.

Through AdventHealth’s Play it Forward initiative, we empowered gamers across the globe to power on their computers and consoles for one mission: race for mental health.

Now more than ever, seeking care for mental wellness is especially important with stress and delays brought on by COVID-19. Our community joined together to support AdventHealth Neuroscience Institute in the race to destigmatize mental health, drive awareness, and expand programs and services in our community.

AdventHealth Foundation Central Florida’s goal was to provide community members with a unique way to give back. On Wednesday, May 26 at 7 pm eastern time, generous donors had a chance to race against real life NASCAR racers, Ross Chastain and Kurt Busch in the iRacing simulation game on our Twitch channel.

Ross and Kurt raced for an hour and a half with donors while speaking on how your donations can help people benefit from mental health programs and services at AdventHealth. Viewers even had the opportunity to win tickets, ask questions straight to Ross and Kurt, and donate for donuts (driving donuts that is) at the end of the stream!

Many donors loved the new way to fundraise saying,

“This is awesome! Such a fun way to raise money for a very important cause.” - Aaron, F.

“I think this is a really great initiative and I appreciate the opportunity to participate!” - Dane, S.

The Foundation was able to raise just over $3,000 for mental health programs and AdventHealth Neuroscience Institute. Stay tuned for many more Play it Forward events coming soon!

Thank you to our NASCAR team, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch and the entire team at Chip Ganassi Racing, along with generous donors like you who make life-changing programs and services available through your donations.

You can still participate in the race for mental health – give back today to help bring awareness to mental health in our communities and raise support for patients and families undergoing severe mental health disorders: donate here.