As Starworks Motorsport makes its debut competing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend, the Daytona Prototype team will actively be encouraging race fans to donate to Dunamis Medical Missions in the wake of the Haiti earthquake earlier this month.
Peter Baron, Starworks Motorsport Team Principal, has created the website –
www.race4haiti.com, where online donations can be made with all funds raised going directly to Dunamis Medical Missions – a group of American doctors and nurses who were already active in Haiti prior to the devastating earthquakes but now with an even greater need to bring medical supplies and help to the region.
Events in Haiti hit home to both Starworks Motorsport, who are based in Florida – noted for its substantial Haitian community, and the team's driver, Orlando-based Scotsman, Ryan Dalziel – whose wife Jessica has a connection through her parents, both of whom are on the Board of Directors of Dunamis Medical Missions.
“This is really the least we can do,” stated Peter Baron. “Ryan and I discussed how best we could help out and we obviously have an appreciation of the work that Dunamis Medical Missions do through the connection with Jessica's family. I encourage race fans everywhere, not just those who follow the Grand-Am Series, to donate online and help make a difference.”
“Dunamis Medical Missions has been serving the people of Haiti since 1995,” said Dr. Martin Schnell, co-founder of the charity alongside his wife Marilyn. “The group was in Haiti during the earthquake. I personally worked with ‘Doctors Without Borders' in the aftermath and I am preparing to take a series of medical teams back in the country in early February. Our immediate goal for the next 1-2 years is disaster relief through health care and feeding programs as well as supporting sister organizations in rebuilding.”
"I think what happened in Haiti has touched people worldwide,” commented Dalziel. “My wife and her family have dedicated so much of their lives to helping the people of Haiti that I really wanted to use my position to help Dunamis Medical Missions raise some much needed funding. I know they will put the money to great use in supplying medical aid to the injured."
Dalziel, who will race for Starworks Motorsport from Round 2 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series onward, will sport decals promoting www.race4haiti.com on his helmet as he competes this weekend in a one-off drive for Action Express Racing at the endurance classic.
Similarly, Starworks Motorsport's No. 7 BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype, being driven in the Rolex 24 at Daytona by Bill Lester, Dion Von Moltke, Ian James and Mike Forest, will also sport decals to raise awareness of Dunamis Medical Missions fund-raising efforts.
Dunamis Medical Missions is a 501-C-3 non-profit corporation (Tax ID: 58-2187204)