Elliott firesuit, helmet being auctioned for JDRF

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Customer Service Division (FCSD) brands Motorcraft and Quick Lane -- along with Wood Brothers Racing and Bill Elliott -- are auctioning the "Fired Up for a Cure" firesuit and helmet from the 2010 NASCAR Design Contest to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Designed by 8-year old Carson Luther, of Wildwood, Mo., the firesuit and helmet that Elliott wore at the NASCAR event at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October will be awarded to the highest bidder with all the proceeds going to JDRF.

To bid on either of the JDRF items, fans can visit http://tinyurl.com/2010JDRF-Firesuit to bid on the firesuit and http://tinyurl.com/2010-JDRF-themed-helmet to bid on the helmet. Both items are currently up for auction and will remain so until 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 21.

"The last piece of the Ford Customer Service Division fund-raiser for JDRF is to auction off the helmet and firesuit that matched Carson's car," said Eddie Wood, co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing. "Both the helmet and firesuit are one-of-a-kind items unique to Wood Brothers Racing, Bill Elliott and JDRF."

JDRF has become the charity of choice for the two FCSD brands that are the primary sponsors for Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford and Tasca Racing's Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car, and the three organizations couldn't be a better fit. Ford Motor Co. is the largest global corporate sponsor of JDRF.

"It's important for FCSD to give back to our community, and the design contest provides us a great platform to reach a large audience to bring awareness to the search for a cure," said Brett Wheatley, director of marketing, FCSD. "We'd love to have the fans bid on these one-of-a-kind items and raise more money for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I want to thank Carson Luther for his great design on the race car and firesuit."

Diabetes affects more Ford families than any other disease. Ford Motor Co. has raised more than $35 million for JDRF since the grassroots campaign started in 1998.

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.5 billion to diabetes research, including $107 million last year. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education.