May 4, 2021
The SCCA Foundation is the 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit charitable arm of the Club, supporting programs from the Tire Rack Street Survival schools and the SCCA Archives, just to name a few.
Recently, however, the Foundation provided SCCA Regions with the opportunity to upgrade some equipment and save some money along the way. Many Regions offer loaner helmets as an opportunity for those new to the sport to try out autocross or an on-track ride-along without making a significant investment in a hobby they don’t know they want to participate in yet. Naturally, those helmets cost the Regions some money, especially if they keep a handful of sizes.
Enter the SCCA Foundation.
“The idea came about when I realized that the SNELL 2005 loaner helmets my region was using in our autocross program were about to expire, and that many of our SCCA regions would be in the same predicament,” Arnie Coleman, SCCA Foundation Executive Member, said. “Helmet prices were getting to the point where replacing our inventory of loaner helmets with even a “budget” priced helmet was going to be a major financial investment. Since one of the Foundation’s goals is to ‘enrich lives through participation in motorsports activities for the benefit of SCCA members, their communities, and the general public,’ it seemed appropriate for the Foundation to do something to facilitate motorsports participation at the region level.”
Now, the hard part. How to get those helmets at a reasonable price, and how many?
“I contacted Patrick Utt at Racequip to see what sort of discount his company could provide for a bulk order of helmets,” Coleman explained. “Being an SCCA Road Racer himself, he was enthusiastic about supporting the Foundation’s effort’s and offered us a SNELL SA2020 open-face helmet (Model OP2020) with custom SCCA and Foundation logo graphics, at a significant discount. Coupled with a subsidy provided by the Foundation, we were able to offer the helmets for sale to the regions for $75 plus shipping each.”
This grant, funded in part by the Foundation, allowed the Regions to purchase helmets that will last another 10 years. In turn, the Regions have the tools they need to bring in new participants to the SCCA and their competition programs.
With help from the National Staff to facilitate and fulfil the program, 400 helmets were shipped to 44 SCCA Regions across the country.
The Foundation Loaner Helmet program is just one of several ways the Foundation achieves our mission through donations provided by SCCA members and the general public. You can contribute to the Foundation through the SCCA Member Access Portal or the Foundation Website.
