Tide collectible aids children's charity

The No. 32 Tide Ford driven by Ricky Craven donned a special paint job for the New England 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. The scheme was part of a program will benefit Give Kids The World -- The No. 32 Tide Ford driven by Ricky Craven donned a special paint job for the New England 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. The scheme was part of a program will benefit Give Kids The World -- a non-profit organization that provides Florida vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

The special paint scheme that adorned the PPI Motorsports entry was designed by 9-year-old Vanessa Alvarez, of Hayward, Calif. Vanessa suffers from a a form of leukemia. Her paint scheme was the winning entry in the annual Tide race car coloring contest at Give Kids The World.

"Give Kids The World is such a magical place for children," said Craven, himself a father of two. "Being able to run this special paint scheme at New Hampshire in July was really special. I've always enjoyed such a great following in New England and, hopefully, this car will bring even more recognition to the Give Kids The World Village."

A die-cast replica of the car -- provided by Racing Champions -- is available for a $6 donation to Give Kids The World by visiting the Tide merchandise trailer at race tracks or at the Tide web site: www.tide.com. The die-cast car is also available at the Give Kids The World web site: www.gktw.org. One hundred percent of the funds raised go directly to Give Kids The World.

"For every car sold, we come closer to making other children's dreams come true," said Pam Landwirth, president of Give Kids The World. "Racing Champions has been extremely generous with the donation of these die-cast cars. Ricky Craven, PPI Motorsports and Proctor & Gamble have donated all the royalties they would normally receive. So all the money we receive from the sale of the cars goes to benefit the kids. This is a totally new look for the Tide car, and one that's sure to be a big hit with die-cast collectors."

The Give Kids The World/Tide coloring contest was held among Give Kids The World guests, who were invited to design their very own NASCAR race car. Nearly 300 children participated in the competition.

"We start out by giving each child a blank piece of paper with an outline of the car," Landwirth explained. "They use their own imaginations in designing the car and, as you can see, the results are pretty amazing."

In addition to funds generated by the sale of die-cast, the race-used hood from the actual Tide/Give Kids The World race car will be auctioned off at the organization's annual gala fundraiser to be held the Saturday night before Mother's Day, 2003.

More than 5,400 children from around the world visit the Give Kids The World program this year. The organization has served nearly 54,000 families since 1986.

"The program with Tide's NASCAR racing team has generated an awareness about GKTW," said Landwirth. "I think we are one of the world's best kept secrets. A lot of people have heard about organizations like the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Starlight Children's Foundation. But they don't realize that when a child's last wish is to come to Disney or one of the other tourist attractions in Florida, we work closely with those types of organizations to make it happen."

This marks the fifth time that the Tide Ford has donned a Give Kids The World color scheme-and the fourth year that the car has carried a paint job that was designed by a "wish child."

Tiffany Rich, a then 10-year-old suffering from Cystic Fibrosis, submitted the winning entry in 1999. Heather Mason, of Berkley, Il., was the winner in 2000. Young Colin Albo created the artwork that was applied to the car Craven drove in last October's 500-mile race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

A product of Proctor & Gamble, the Tide brand has been a NASCAR Winston Cup team sponsor since 1987. A household name throughout the world, Tide first backed Darrell Waltrip before teaming with Ricky Rudd for nearly a decade. This is Tide's third season as sponsor of Cal Wells' PPI Motorsports team.

"Ricky Craven is great with the kids," said Landwirth. "He maintains contact with last year's contest winner, Colin Alba, and I'm sure he will enjoy that same kind of relationship with Vanessa. Ricky has been very active in our annul fundraiser for the part two years. Here is a guy who only gets a few weekends off per year, yet he chooses to spend one of them-Mother's Day weekend-helping us. That says a lot about Ricky. The support shown by Ricky, Tide, PPI, Racing Champions and everyone within the NASCAR community has helped dreams come true for a lot of children."

For more information about Give Kids The World or to order a commemorative die-cast car, visit the organization on line at: www.gktw.org.

Or, to order your Tide/Give Kids The World die-cast car from the Tide web site, log onto: www.tide.com.