Nominated for 2023 Kickin’ Doorz Down Philanthropist of the Year Award presented by 51FIFTY
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., April 19, 2023 – National Football League head coach Steve Mariucci failed to produce a Super Bowl victory for either the San Francisco 49ers or the Detroit Lions. But Mariucci’s legacy of community service in the Bay Area and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula remains greater than football.
The Steve Mariucci Family Foundation was formed in 2011 by Mariucci to advance his philanthropic works and to involve his family in those endeavors. The purpose of the Foundation is to raise money and make grants to other non-profit organizations.
The Foundation organizes, hosts and is the beneficiary of various fund-raising events to support its purposes including Special Olympics and charities such as CreatiVets, Montalvo Arts Center and many more.
Among the Foundation’s successes is the Mariucci Family Beach House, a “home away from home” for patients and families that travel across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to receive specialty mediation care at U.P. Health System-Marquette and the Upper Peninsula Medical Center. The private, nonprofit donation-based organization ensures that families in a medical crisis never have to ask, “Where am I going to stay and how am I going to be able to afford it?”
The Steve Mariucci Family Foundation is among five nominees for the 2023 Kickin’ Doorz Down Philanthropist of the Year presented by 51FIFTY. The Kurt Busch Foundation; Kevin Harvick Foundation, The Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation also have been chosen as this year’s finalists.
The Award’s winner will be announced June 8, 2023 during the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s induction gala, presented by World Wide Technology Raceway. The Thursday night event will be held at Sonoma Raceway’s Turn 11 Club, as part of the track’s NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and NASCAR/ARCA Menards Series weekend.
Previous Award winners are Mike Curb (2021) and the Sonoma Raceway Speedway Children’s Charities Chapter (2022).
“As the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame enters its third decade, we are honored to have 51FIFTY Enterprises and Knockin’ Doorz Down as sponsor of the Philanthropist of the Year, one of the Hall’s most significant initiatives,” said Ken Clapp, Chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “In 2023, we will select from among five highly qualified groups and, for the first time, nominations include members of athletic organizations outside motorsports.
“We are proud to nominate a well-known and highly popular National Football League coach and television broadcaster and his The Steve Mariucci Family Foundation. His foundation’s works have contributed significantly to many philanthropic causes in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.”
The Knockin’ Doorz Down Philanthropist of The Year award was brought to life by Carlos Vieira, a business man, an entrepreneur, a retired racecar driver, a father and a philanthropist. Carlos Vieira has spent years of his life living the madness, in which he has overcome obstacles and adversities throughout the years to become the success he is today.
And with that success he has been given opportunities to help others along the way. He founded the Carlos Vieira Foundation in 2010 and began the great works of helping families living with autism, mental illness and drug addiction, through programs such as Race For Autism, Race 2B Drug Free and the Race To End The Stigma campaigns.
Vieira captured all of this in his book Knockin’ Doorz Down, released in 2020, the real life story of breaking through the darkness of addiction and finding redemption. He continues to live this life of philanthropy and is actively encouraging others to follow suite. This award is a representation of that mindset. To put others first, to lift others up and to always do what we can to help when help is needed.
“Wealth isn’t just about dollars. We all have time, talent, and creativity, all of which can be used for positive change. Share your blessings in whatever form they come and to whatever level you have been blessed,” Vieira said.
About the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame:
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport of stock car/motorsports competition. The mission of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame is founded to preserve history and heritage of the important role west coast stock car and motorsports figures have played in the sport’s development and continuation and to recognize, through annual enshrinement, of outstanding individuals and groups within the sport such as, but not limited to, designers, engineers, mechanics, drivers, race track owners, promoters, publicists and members of the motorsports media.
The Hall is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, dedicated to supporting a variety of organizations and groups from coast to coast. During its tenure, the Hall has raised more than $700,000 in the past five of its 22 years for youth, health and safety, hospitals, animal rescue, military and other charitable causes.
For more information on the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame visit: www.WestCoastStockCarHallofFame.com
Media Contact:
Owen A. Kearns
okearns@bak.rr.com
661-342-2983
About 51FIFTY
51FIFTY is power! Power to overcome, power to persevere, the power to set your life on the course of success. When you’re faced with the challenge’s life throws at you, you focus and do what is needed to go beyond what is required. Stand up, stand firm, believe, make it happen and live through the madness, knockin’ doors down along the way!
51FIFTY represents the lifestyle we choose to live, to have confidence in ourselves, to not let anyone or anything stop us, to overcome all adversity. We choose to be who we’re meant to be. We help others with empathy, compassion and honor. We see a world that is destined for greatness when we lift each other up rather than tearing each other down.
We choose to help, focus on community and inspire those around us. We are 51FIFTY!
Contact:
Jason VanDusen
51FIFTY Enterprises
jvandusen@51fiftyltm.com
925-980-7673