(INDIANAPOLIS) March 30, 2022 – Ed Carpenter Racing announced today a partnership with Building Tomorrow, an international not-for-profit organization supporting literacy and numeracy in Uganda, for the GMR Grand Prix. Through the generosity of a longtime Building Tomorrow supporter, defending race winner Rinus VeeKay will compete in the No. 21 Building Tomorrow Chevrolet on May 14, 2022 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Together, Building Tomorrow and ECR have launched “Ride with Rinus,” where any contributor who donates $75 can have their name added to VeeKay’s car.
Founded in 2006, Building Tomorrow aims to improve learning outcomes in underserved communities throughout Uganda. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, some 1.2 million children were out of school across Uganda. The country then experienced the longest continuous school closures in the world due to the pandemic, with some 10 million children out of school for nearly two years. Working in partnership with local communities, Building Tomorrow delivered its Roots to Rise literacy and numeracy programming to more than 40,000 children in 2021 and will reach over 100,000 learners in 2022.
Building Tomorrow and ECR launched “Ride With Rinus,” where supporters will have their name included on VeeKay’s car for the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Donations will benefit Building Tomorrow’s Roots to Rise program, a foundational learning initiative teaching basic literacy and numeracy skills based on students’ learning level, not age. A donation of just $75 will give contributors the opportunity to put their name on VeeKay’s No. 21 Building Tomorrow Chevrolet and allow five children to enroll in an upcoming Roots to Rise camp. With the goal of adding 1,500 names to the racecar, Building Tomorrow would be able to support 7,500 children in Uganda and help them get their education back on track after two years without formal schooling. To “Ride With Rinus,” donations can be made online at BT.TEAM.
“We’re delighted to partner with Ed Carpenter Racing to raise funds and awareness for the learning crisis in Uganda,” said George Srour, Co-Founder and Chief Dreamer of Building Tomorrow. “With this partnership, we’re giving anyone who wants to support literacy and numeracy – basic skills so many Ugandan kids haven’t had the chance to master – the opportunity to do so, and in return they get the chance to ‘Ride With Rinus’ on May 14.”
VeeKay is now in his third season as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver, having competed with ECR from the beginning. The 21-year-old is no stranger to success at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, accomplishing many career milestones on the road course. In just his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in July of 2020, VeeKay earned his first Top 5 finish. In October of the same year, he won his first pole position, led the first laps of his Indy car career and earned his first podium finish on the road course. Last May, the GMR Grand Prix became the home of VeeKay’s first career victory when he led 33 laps and won by almost a five-second margin.
Building Tomorrow and ECR’s “Ride With Rinus” campaign will be active for the next month, closing on April 30, 2022. VeeKay’s car will then be transformed into the No. 21 Building Tomorrow Chevrolet and contributors’ names will be incorporated into the design. The 2022 GMR Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 14.
About Building Tomorrow
Founded in 2006, Building Tomorrow works to improve learning for children living in rural, underserved communities throughout Uganda. With the support of 300 dynamic Ugandan university graduates recruited as Building Tomorrow Fellows and a corps of more than 7,000 Community Education Volunteers – residents of the communities in which we work who are passionate about education – we have enrolled more than 55,000 out-of-school children in school, reached some 54,000 learners through Roots to Rise literacy and numeracy camps, and constructed 81 government-aided primary schools nationwide in communities where no formal school previously existed. Building Tomorrow is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization and is based in Kampala, Uganda and Indianapolis.
