The day before he was announced as one of the five new members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Richard Childress was in Washington, D.C. The owner of Richard Childress Racing attended a Congressional Pediatric Trauma Briefing, according to RollCall.com.
Childress, the founder of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was invited by two North Carolina congressmen - Republican Rep. Richard Hudson and Democrat Rep. G.K. Butterfield.
“Every time you hear a church bell ring, a child dies. And this is 2016. We have to do something to change that,” Childress said, according to RollCall.com. “This country’s losing 10,000 children a year (to traumatic injury). We want to build a team and have everyone get aboard this team and go out there.”
Childress’ institute was created in 2008 in partnership with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Childress, who owns land in Montana, said that state lacks a level one trauma centers for pediatric care. At the meeting, both congressmen announced the establishment of the Pediatric Trauma Caucus.
“(Childress) is not just someone who uses his celebrity to fly in, fly out and do a photo-op,” Rep. Hudson said. “He is someone who invests his time.”