Following Dan Wheldon’s death in 2011, Graham Rahal rallied the IndyCar, and overall motorsports communities, in the Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction.
He’s doing so again with another online auction for the Wilson Children’s Fund, following the loss of Justin Wilson, which will start on Monday, September 14. Rahal has partnered with eBay, as he did with Wheldon’s, for this auction, and also with online facilitator Auction Cause.
Official details were released on Friday, via INDYCAR. Key points include:
- A goal of fundraising at least $1 million
- Items signed by racing legends Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt
- F1 items from World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button
- A one-of-a-kind original painting of Wilson’s car by noted artist Bill Patterson
Auction is shaping up tremendously well. Lots of people involved, and an insane amount of donations. Really going to be special! @eBay
— Graham Rahal (@GrahamRahal) September 11, 2015
Stefan Wilson, Justin’s younger brother, also shared this message earlier today regarding a good idea from Marco Andretti:
I've been using this a lot lately. #WWJD RT @MarcoAndretti: #WWJD. What Would Justin Do - We can all better ourselves thinking this!
— Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) September 11, 2015
Through eBay’s direct involvement, all transaction fees will be waived and all proceeds will be deposited into the Wilson Children’s Fund, which benefits Wilson’s wife, Julia, and daughters Jane and Jessica.
For auction updates or to contribute directly to the Wilson Children’s Fund, visit WilsonChildrensFund.com. Contributions may also be mailed to: Wilson Children’s Fund, c/o Forum Credit Union, P.O. Box 50738, Indianapolis, IN 46250-0738.
Tribute T-shirts and decals, with proceeds also going to the fund, are available at http://shop.ims.com/indycar/drivers/justin-wilson/. T-shirt sales are great, with nearly 10,000 total sold between the official tribute T-shirt and Manifest Creative, Aaron Justus-designed shirt.