PENCILS OF PROMISE ADDS RACER ZACH VEACH AS AMBASSADOR, HOST COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR NYC GALA

courtesy of Zach Veach PR

ZACH VEACH UPDATE (photo courtesy of Zach Veach PR)

NEW YORK, NY (Nov. 8, 2011)

– Pencils Of Promise (PoP), a registered 501(C)(3) nonprofit, announced today the addition of race car driver, Zach Veach, as a host committee member for the global organization’s first Pencils of Promise Gala slated to take place November 17, 2011 at New York’s espace. Veach will serve alongside other host committee members including global phenomenon Justin Bieber, actress Sophia Bush and AEG LIVE’s Randy Phillips, among others.

“We’re an organization about youth-helping-youth,” says Adam Braun, founder of PoP. “Having another inspiring young leader like Zach as a part of this organization is something we’re extremely excited about.”

PoP builds schools in the developing world and trains young leaders to take action at home and abroad. In just three years, the organization has built more than 40 sustainable schools and delivered more than one million educational hours across Laos, Nicaragua and Guatemala, making PoP one of the fastest growing nonprofits in the country.

As part of the event, Veach along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation will donate to the PoP auction: one of his racing tires signed by all the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series drivers; his 2010 Official USF2000 Andretti Autosport racing uniform; four suite tickets to the 2012 Indianapolis 500 with a police escorted motorcade to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on race morning; Hot Lap pace car rides around the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway; four suite tickets to the 2012 Miller Might Carb Day. Veach also donated two tickets to the PoP gala for the Dan Wheldon Family Trust auction.

Veach, 16, is one of the youngest licensed race car drivers in the country, competing for Andretti Autosport in INDYCAR’s “Mazda Road to Indy” developmental ladder system. Named by ESPN The Magazine as a NEXT athlete in the motorsports space and a finalist for Sports Illustrated’s “Sports Kid of the Year” award, Veach took two race wins and three pole positions to capture the 2011 Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 Winterfest Championship and opened his first full-season in USF2000 with a win from the pole position. Veach impressively finished within the top 10 in all of his races this season, which led to his team, Andretti Autosport, to advance Veach up the ladder for two events in the Star Mazda Championship Series where he placed third in only his second race.

The CNN-named “Intriguing” Veach’s addition to Pencils of Promise is no surprise given his track record of giving back. The 5’2 Ohio native has been very active in educating teens about the risks of texting behind the wheel as the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, which advocates for cell-free driving, alongside Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

“I’m so honored to be a part of a youth- helping- youth organization like Pencils of Promise,” said Veach. “The opportunity to be out there and raising funding to offer education to other kids is really important and it’s dear to my heart. I can’t thank Adam Braun and his staff enough for all they have done and for the opportunity to stand with them as we change the lives of others who are less fortunate.”

For more information at Pencils or Promise, please visit www.PencilsOfPromise.org.

About Pencils of Promise:
Pencils of Promise (PoP) is a registered 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization that partners with local communities to build schools and increase educational opportunities in the developing world. PoP was founded by Adam Braun in October 2008 with just $25 in hopes of building one school in Laos by engaging other people who believed in these same principles, youth in particular. PoP has now expanded to more than 40 schools in Laos, Nicaragua and Guatemala. For more information about PoP please visit www.PencilsOfPromise.org.

About Zach Veach:
Zach “Ziggy” Veach is a 16-year-old autoracing driver who competes in INDYCAR’s ‘Mazda Road to Indy’ USF2000 National Championship Series and Star Mazda Championship Series, important open-wheel stepping-stones to a career in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. In 2011, Veach captured the USF2000 Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship, while also being named by ESPN The Magazine as a NEXT athlete in motorsports. In 2010, Michael Andretti signed Veach to his team, Andretti Autosport, while also being named one of CNN’s “Intriguing People” and being nominated for the Sports Illustrated “Sports Kid of the Year” award. In addition to his racing, Veach is an advocate for safer driving as the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, an advocacy group for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using their cell phones and has campaigned for Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone.” Veach released his first published Android application through his phone-app building company, ZaAPP, releasing urTXT, in the Marketplace for Android to help consumers avoid dangerous text messaging while driving and helms his own safe driving program, Ziggy’s Safe Driving, which hits DMA markets across the country each year. Veach has been a guest or profiled on a variety of national platforms including NBC’s The Today Show, CNN’s Headline News, ESPN.com, FOXsports.com, ABCNews.com, Oprah Radio’s The Gayle King Show, The Los Angeles Times, AOL.com Fast Company magazine, Mashable.com and is a blogger for RACER and iPhone iLife magazines. The son of a national truck and tractor-pulling champion, Veach entered his junior year of high school this fall and released his first book, 99 THINGS TEENS WISH THEY KNEW BEFORE TURNING 16, in March 2011. For more information, please visit www.ZachVeach.com.