Racer Ray Evernham giving time and money to effort

Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009

Prominent racing figure Ray Evernham is helping build a Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte and says personal experience made him a firm believer in the cause.

Evernham on Wednesday donated $250,000 toward the effort and announced that he was joining the board that oversees it. He said the Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte would make a huge difference to families dealing with their children’s serious illnesses.

"I can’t really explain what it means to be so lost in a town, and to have a place like this," Evernham said during a midday news conference at the East Morehead Street site where the facility will be built, most likely within the next year.

The Ronald McDonald House provides housing and other necessities of life for families whose children are hospitalized with serious illnesses.

Evernham, now an analyst on ESPN-ABC's NASCAR coverage and part owner of a Cup organization, said he became familiar with the Ronald McDonald House in 1992. His son, Raymond John Evernham, was then 1 and had been diagnosed with leukemia.

Evernham was starting his NASCAR career with Hendrick Motorsports and living in North Carolina, while the rest of his family was in New Jersey. Doctors moved his son to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City for treatment.

"We didn’t have much money," he said. "But we were able to stay at a Ronald McDonald House, two blocks from the hospital, for $20 a night. It was a very difficult time for us. Having the Ronald McDonald House was the only way we could afford to stay with our son."

Raymond John Evernham is now 19 years old.

His father won 47 races and three Cup championships with driver Jeff Gordon at the Hendrick organization before becoming a team owner. Evernham Motorsports eventually became Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and through mergers in now known as Richard Petty Motorsports.

"I’ve had a good career and was able to get my bills paid off," Evernham said. "Now I want to help."

Mona Johnson-Gibson, executive director of the Charlotte Ronald McDonald House, said that having Evernham on the team will help in many ways.

"It goes beyond the money and having his expertise on our board," she said. "He will help spread our message to the racing world, if they don’t already know."

She said about $6 million of the $9 million goal has been raised. Construction could begin within two months. When finished, she said, the Charlotte facility will have 28 bedrooms and cover 35,000 square feet. It will serve families with children at the Levine Children’s Hospital and the Hemby Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

It will be the fifth such facility in North Carolina. Among the 288 worldwide are facilities in Durham, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill and Greenville. They are also located in Greenville, Columbia and Charleston in South Carolina.

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