Breast Cancer Giveback Recap 2023

Each October, Lucas Oil Center hosts a giveback event to raise money and awareness as a part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Over the past five years we have selected local women to be the recipients of our fundraiser, with the intention that the money raised would be able to help them in their battles against breast cancer. This year we selected two local women, Ashlynn Racine of Evansville, IN and Shannon Lewis of Sebree, KY.

– Our 2023 Recipients –

Both of this year’s recipients are amazing women with beautiful families. Ashlynn, 40, has been married 19 years and has two daughters. Shannon, 44, has been married 23 years and has two sons and two grandchildren. While their stories may not be the same, they both share a similar experience and through our giveback event they’ve become connected with one another in a way that is truly amazing to see.

Hear more about each recipient’s story in the videos below:

– Breast Cancer Giveback Weekend –

To show support and bring awareness to our giveback, our teams at the eastside and westside locations wore Breast Cancer Giveback shirts and hoodies during their shifts throughout our giveback weekend, October 27 to October 29. These items were also available for purchase in our lobby with proceeds raised going back to our recipients.

BREAST CANCER GIVEBACK WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY

– Tri-State Speedway Harvest Cup –

As a sponsor of Tri-State Speedway and the Harvest Cup (the final race of the season) each year Lucas Oil Center extends an invitation to friends and family to come out for a “Night at the Races”. This year’s Harvest Cup, on Saturday, October 14, was no different, and despite it being a windy and chilly night, everyone had a good time all around.

A key part of our “Night at the Races” is to bring awareness to breast cancer and raise money for our giveback event. During intermission, several members of our Lucas Oil Center family went through the crowd asking for donations while our recipients spoke to the crowd from the announcer box.

Also members of the Pink 69 Racing team were there selling shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts with a portion of proceeds benefitting our giveback.

TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY HARVEST CUP GALLERY

– Trunk or Treat Cruise-In –

The last two years we have capped off our Breast Cancer Giveback with our Haunted Car Wash event. This year, in place of the Haunted Car Wash, we chose to host a Trunk or Treat Cruise-In on Sunday, October 29 where car people and families could come together for a fun night supporting a good cause. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions our event was postponed to Tuesday, October 31 and did not turn out as big as we had planned. However, that didn’t stop those in attendance from having fun, enjoying music and free candy.

With live performances from local musicians Clayton Scherzinger, Haiden Hart and Donnie Wilson and Taste Buds Food Truck, the night was lively despite the temperatures. A few of the event’s sponsors were even able to make an appearance and help give out candy. Our sponsors were a crucial part of this year’s giveback and we couldn’t have done it without them.

TRUNK OR TREAT CRUISE-IN GALLERY

– A Conversation With Our Recipients –

Having two recipients this year posed a unique opportunity. Not only would we be able to hear and share the experience of one local woman battling breast cancer, but we’d be able to hear two of these stories, highlighting their similarities and differences. This also allowed for a discussion between our two recipients talking about their ups, downs and daily lives during each of their battles.

So we figured it would be good to sit down with Ashlynn and Shannon to talk about these things in a podcast of sorts. Our own April Maxey (VP of Operations and HR Manager) led the conversation which you can listen to below.

– How Much We Raised –

During our giveback weekend, October 27-29, twenty percent of all car washes throughout the weekend at the eastside Lucas Oil Center’s Nitro Wash along with twenty percent of all oil changes on Saturday, October 28 at both locations went towards our giveback total. Also donations collected throughout the month of October at either location, during our Night at the Races, and at our Trunk or Treat Cruise-In went towards our giveback.

Last year’s total giveback donation was $7,000. With the help of our sponsors for our Trunk or Treat Cruise-In event, we were able to surpass last year’s total and raised $9,000, with each recipient receiving $4,500!

April Maxey, VP of Operations and HR Manager, and Chris Payne, Marketing Manager, presented the check to our amazing recipients, Ashlynn and Shannon who were both extremely grateful for the support.

– Why Breast Cancer Awareness Is Important –

Something important to both of our recipients this year was awareness and early detection. While Ashlynn was able to catch her breast cancer earlier on, Shannon was not so lucky, having hers discovered later than is ideal. Both women have gone through their respective treatments and things are fortunately moving in a positive direction. But this isn’t always the case with late detection, as the longer cancer is able to grow undetected the harder treatment can become. It is important to have regularly scheduled check ups to catch any early signs and be able to discuss treatment options with a doctor.

For more information about breast cancer and how you can see if you may be showing early signs, speak with your doctor about scheduling a consultation.

– Thank You –

As always we’d like to thank our recipients, Ashlynn and Shannon, for letting us be a part of their journeys, as well as our teams at Lucas Oil Center and Nitro Wash, our partners at 104FM WIKY, Clayton Scherzinger, Haiden Hart, Donnie Wilson, and Taste Buds Food Truck for being part of our giveback event.

We’d also like to thank our Spooky (Silver) Level sponsors Signs of Golf and The Salon Professional Academy, our Ghoulish (Gold) Level sponsors Busler Enterprises, PDP – Pay Day Payroll, B-Hive Printing, Iron Workers Union 103 and True Brand, and our Paranormal (Platinum) Level sponsors Logical Video Security, Mighty Auto Parts, MJ Trucking, Point Man Technology, David Enterprises, Tri-State Multiple Sclerosis Association, German American Bank, Evansville Aerial and Kight Home Center for being such a huge help in this year’s event. We absolutely could not have done it without your help and are thankful for you and your support.

And we don’t want to forget each person who came in during our Breast Cancer Giveback Weekend or attended our Trunk or Treat Cruise-In. Your help in allowing us to give back to our community never ceases to amaze us and we look forward to making next year’s event even bigger.