Charlie Kimball was one of the athletes and local celebrities who descended on Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Saturday to give away 1,000 toys as part of the annual AmpHarrisFoundation ‘Put A Smile On A Child’s Face for Christmas’ toy drive.
Local community activist Amp Harris has coordinated the toy drive for 15 years. But the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic threatened to cancel the event in 2020. Harris called IMS officials, who immediately agreed to host the event.
“This may be one of the coolest things I’ve ever done on pit lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Kimball said in a video showcasing the giveaway. “There’s nothing like seeing everyone smile.”
Kimball raced for AJ Foyt Racing in 2020, but is looking for a fulltime ride after the team announced earlier this week that Dalton Kellett would take the seat of the No. 4.
The video embedded in the tweet below shows cars lined up along pit road as gifts and food are loaded into the trunks. The participation of IMS ensured this manner of safely distributing the gifts during the current pandemic.
“Twenty-twenty has been a crazy year and I think that any time - especially right now - that you can put smiles on kids’ faces and the people that come through,” said former WNBA Indiana Fever player and current Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings. “For all of us to come collectively and be a part of it. For me it’s just fun because I love kids; that’s my passion.”
With the assist from IMS, Harris completed another successful drive.
“Today to be out here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to be able to expose so many inner-city kids to this great spectacle, the leading racing venue of the world, is about blessing 1,000 kids,” Harris said. “It was a blessing to be a blessing. I just want to tell everyone is you never know who you can impact by just the smallest little thing that you do.”
https://t.co/gsI19G4LQG Toy Giveaway 2020 @ims We did it! Being able to Bless over 1000 kids and 500 families. @IndyMayorJoe @indianafever GM and Vice President @Catchin24 and @indycar @charliekimball plus others Thank you 🙏🏾 #WeAreOne❤️ @pacers @colts @rtv6 🔥🎥by @wann317 pic.twitter.com/byvAJP8wXE
— Amp Harris (@ampharris) December 20, 2020
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJAHM-Qn_ot/