“Thanks Lexie”
11-Year Old From Illinois Donates More Than 2400 Items to Kyle Busch Foundation

Lexie Ziolkowski proved that sometimes, age doesn’t matter. Ziolkowski has collected 2377 books, 108 coloring books, and 246 boxes of crayons and donated them to the Kyle Busch Foundation, which supports children’s homes in Grand Rapids, Mich., Concord, N.C., Mesa, Ariz., Atlanta and in Busch’s hometown of Las Vegas.

Perhaps most impressive is that Ziolkowski is only 11 years old. She traveled with her parents to North Carolina to deliver the items to the foundation for distribution to the homes and to attend the Oct. 17 NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C. For their part, Busch’s Sprint Cup sponsor M&M’s donated over 400 books within their Hackettstown, N.J. headquarters to add to Lexie’s good gesture.

The Illinois native first met Busch last year at a Slinger Super Late Model race and had her picture taken with him. An avid fan of Busch, Ziolkowski read on the website for Busch’s foundation that books for kids ages 5-18 were needed for the children’s homes. Ziolkowski will meet Busch again on Friday Oct. 16 and thank her for all help.

“It’s really cool what Lexie has done for the foundation,” Busch said. “For someone who is only 10 years old to organize and execute a book drive that will help less-fortunate kids – some of which are her own age – is amazing. It says a lot about her heart and her family to put something like this together. I can’t thank her enough and it was nice that we got to visit again at our autograph session during the Charlotte weekend. We’ll make sure all the books she collected will be sent to the children’s homes and put to good use.

” The Kyle Busch Foundation traces its roots back to August 2006 when Busch was invited to visit the St. John’s Home near Grand Rapids, Michigan. The children’s home provides housing and structure to children ages 6-18 that have been moved from their previous living situations for various reasons.

Kyle accepted the opportunity to meet and spend some time with the children living at St. John’s and it was a decision that would forever change him.

His experience provided him with valuable insight into how these extraordinary kids are working to overcome the challenges in their everyday lives. Busch realized the things most people take for granted are the very things that these children need: A safe home where they are encouraged to learn and are taught the skills to achieve their dreams.

Shortly after his visit, Kyle made the decision to start the Kyle Busch Foundation to provide assistance to organizations like St. John’s and the children who live there.

With support from M&M’s, Busch’s primary Sprint Cup Series sponsor, as well as the NASCAR Foundation, the Kyle Busch Foundation have made significant donations to the children at the various homes and Busch has been able to spend much-cherished time with kids at homes in Mesa, Ariz, Atlanta, and Concord, N.C.

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