Over 200 eager drivers took the track at Road America in Elkhart Lake on June 1st for the annual Lamers Racing Driving Experience.  The day started out with a few light showers, but the clouds cleared away and yielded a warm and sunny day for this unique charity event.  The event is organized and sponsored by Lamers Motor Racing in partnership with Commercial Horizons, Faith Technologies, McMAHON, Nicolet National Bank, and Road America.  The P.A.R.T.Y. at the PAC has been the primary beneficiary of the charity event, with over $100,000 being raised since the Driving Experience began several years ago.  P.A.R.T.Y. stands for Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth. Each year, more than 5,000 area high school sophomores attend the annual program at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center (PAC). The program helps teens make a personal connection and think about real-life situations they’re faced with every day. Pairing real stories shared by actual survivors with a realistic accident simulation, the P.A.R.T.Y. program helps teens who are learning to drive grasp the potential consequences of risky behaviors.

As the first program of its kind in the United States, P.A.R.T.Y. at the PAC is funded by Theda Clark Medical Center Foundation along with many generous community sponsors. Lamers Racing Driving Experience has been a supporter of the program since 2009. The program itself is a collaboration among the Trauma Center at Theda Clark Medical Center, area fire fighters, law enforcement officers, independent physician specialty groups, emergency medical technicians, attorneys, and the survivors who volunteer to share their stories and put a face to the statistics.  The goal for the P.A.R.T.Y. at the PAC program is to reduce the number of teenagers who will engage in high-risk behavior during and beyond their high school years – decisions that ultimately affect their health and well-being.

The 2016 Driving Experience raised over $48,000 total that will be distributed to the P.A.R.T.Y. at the PAC and other charities, including: My Team Triumph; Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Boys & Girls Clubs of Menasha, Green Bay and the Fox Valley; Schriner’s Hospital for Children; and Harbor House.

Thanks to all the sponsors and drivers that donated their time and money to help these wonderful organizations, all of which have very real and positive effects on many young lives in our communities!