Shirley's Kids, the charity headed by NHRA legend Shirley Muldowney, had another successful weekend in terms of lending a hand to children in need in drag racing communities.
6-year-old Kevin Bean and his family were welcomed to the seventh annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods at zMAX Dragway. Through a donation by Stan and Sheila Holt of Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant, Shirley's Kids was able to present Kevin and his family with a check for $5,000 to help with medican expenses related to Kevin's recovery from brain cancer.
The check was not all that Kevin received, as he was given VIP treatment throughout the day at the NHRA event.
"Kevin called it 'que padre,' which means 'biggest thing ever,'" said his father, Jim Bean. It was a complete day of shock. It will probably take a week to come down from that, a month to absorb it all, probably a year to understand it, and a whole lifetime to remember. It was quite amazing."
Kevin was brought on stage with muldowney during driver introductions before Sunday's eliminations, and Muldowney told a crowd of 50,000 people all about Shirley's Kids. Kevin and his family were then surprised with a $5,000 check from the charity, with Muldowney telling Kevin to "take some of this and go to Toys 'R' Us and have a ball."
Kevin met many NHRA drivers during the day and was a big hit, and he and his family spent a lot of time in the track's pit area.
"It was pretty awesome," said Jim Bean. "The racetrack, the drivers, the staff, everything. It was completely incredible. Everyone invited us in, and it was like there weren't any strangers. Jack Beckman even let Kevin help him pack his parachute, and Kevin got to play in the track's play area. It was all so awesome.
"This was probably the most excited I've ever seen him. We've been a lot of places and have seen a lot of things, but he just couldn't get over how awesome the whole deal was. It was so special."
Muldowney is scheduled to attend several more NHRA national events in 2016 as Shirley's Kids continues to grow and help children in need. The next event she is scheduled to attend is this weekend in Houston. She will also make appearances in Atlanta, Englishtown, Bristol, Denver, Indy, the second Charlotte event, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Pomona, as well as at the Jr. Drag Racing Western Conference FInals in Tulsa, Okla.
For more information or to help support the cause, visit ShirleysKids.org.