Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted Tuesday that $159,935.33 was raised to fight childhood hunger through donations that started after a simple tweet.
The donations began after the social media reaction to Earnhardt’s tweet of a banana and mayonnaise sandwich, which he said was his favorite sandwich. Donations went to Blessings in a Backpack, which provides food on the weekends for elementary school children who might otherwise go hungry. Earnhardt stated he would donate $50,000.
“The power of social media, it’s always the things that you don’t expect that get the most attention,’' Earnhardt said after his Xfinity win last weekend at Richmond International Raceway. “I’ve never had a p.r. person use my account. All my tweets are 100 percent genuine.
“I was just standing around during that photo shoot. Every time I do a Hellman’s shoot each year, we talk about this sandwich, and we sort of mimic me making this sandwich with prop bread and all that stuff. They had it laid out for me to get ready to film me making this sandwich and talking about it. So I’m standing there for five minutes waiting on them to get ready. I’m just standing taking pictures and tweeting and ... that thing just took off. It was crazy how something like that can do that. I’m glad we were able to take advantage of it ... to do something good with it.’'
That banana sandwich raised $159,935.33 total. Thanks to all who donated. @BlessinBackpack @Hellmanns
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) April 26, 2016