Home > In the News and Press Releases > Believe In Tomorrow Volunteer and NASCAR Fan Carl Dakes, Receives NASCAR Foundation’s 8th Annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian

Believe In Tomorrow Volunteer and NASCAR Fan Carl Dakes, Receives NASCAR Foundation’s 8th Annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award in Las Vegas, Nevada. Baltimore Based Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation will Receive a $100,000 Donation from the NASCAR Foundation to Expand Pediatric Respite Housing in Ocean City, Maryland.

Baltimore, Maryland. December 10, 2018

Maryland resident Carl Dakes was presented with NASCAR’s highest award for volunteerism during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards at Wynn Las Vegas. The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award honors a dedicated NASCAR fan who has made extraordinary efforts to create positive change in the lives of children through volunteerism. Carl is a painter by profession, who for the past 18 years has volunteered his talents and many thousands of volunteer hours to paint each of the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation’s nine pediatric hospital and respite facilities throughout Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic area.

Carl, (aka, “Carl The Painter,”) owns the Dakes Company based in Crofton, Maryland. The Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation is known as a national leader in the area of support housing services for critically ill children. The $100,000 NASCAR Foundation award will be used to help expand the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House By The Sea in Ocean City, Maryland. The planned expansion of this pediatric respite facility will prioritize critically ill children of active U.S. military families.

Believe In Tomorrow is credited with establishing the first pediatric respite program in the United States in Ocean City Maryland in 1986. Since then, the Foundation’s pediatric housing program has served thousands of critically ill children, often making what many parents describe as a positive “turning point” during their child’s illness. Believe In Tomorrow respite housing allows patients and their families the opportunity to renew their energy, heal, and enjoy the gentle cadence of normal family life during their respite stays. The Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation is also the primary residential service provider of critically ill children being treated at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Since it’s inception, Believe In Tomorrow has provided over 800,000 overnight accommodations to critically ill children and their families.

“Carl is an incredible example of the very best in our community and the world we live in, said Brian Morrison, Founder of Believe In Tomorrow. “He has an incredible heart and passion to help others, and he has used his professional skills as a painter to brighten the lives of the critically ill children and families that we serve.” he added.

For more information on the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation go to www.believeintomorrow.org. For more information regarding this release please contact: Brian Morrison, bmorrison@believeintomorrow.org, office: 410-744-1032, cell: 410-615-7690, or Maryanne Davis, mdavis@believeintomorrow.org.