Two NASCAR notables, four-time champion Jeff Gordon and team owner and former racer Richard Childress, have been recognized by Parade magazine as "Celebrites Who Give Big."  In their recent edition focusing on philanthropy, Parade highlighted the top thirty actors, business executives, media members, and sports figures who have significantly supported charities and philanthropic works.

Richard Childress was named by Parade as the fifth most generous celebrity.  He has given over $5 million in charitable gifts, primarily to the Childress Pediatric Trauma Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Richard Childress Racing recently celebrated their 40th anniversary as a race team with a fan appreciation day at their race shop and a gala dinner.  Over 2,500 fans attended the festivities and the dinner event raised over $170,000 for the Pediatric Trauma Center.

"I would like to thak all of the fans, some from as far away as California and Canada, who came to the RCR facility to be a part of the 40th anniversary celebration and raised money for the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma," Childress said.

NASCAR President Mike Helton also participated in the Childress Racing celebration.  In addition to his attendance, Helton also delivered a $100,000 grant from the NASCAR Foundation to support Childress' philanthropic passion of helping children who have experienced trauma.

Dr. J. Wayne Meredith, Director of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, had nothing but praise for Childress' generosity.  "We greatly appreciate the opportunity that gives us to bring attention to the issue of life-threatening injury, which is by far the leading cause of death among our nation's children every year," Meredith said.

Although a little farther down the charitable list, four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon scored the 27th position in the "Celebrities Who Give Big" ranking.  Gordon has given over $526,000 based on last year's data, with funding primarily for children's charities including the Riley Hospital for Children, the Northeast Medical Center and the Hendrick Marrow Foundation.

Gordon has his own Foundation and is very active in his charitable work.  Gordon also celebrated an anniversary recently with the tenth anniversary of the Foundation that bears his name.

Like Childress, Gordon marked the milestone with "A Decade of Caring" event.  Gordon took the opportunity on the occasion of the anniversary to pledge $2.5 million this year to support various health initiatives for children.

Some of Gordon's newest charitable endeavors include support of the Pediatric Pulmonary Lab and Community Outreach Program at the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital, the establishment of the Jeff Gordon Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at Riley Hospital for Children and the funding of the Phase I Long-Term Follow-Up Program focused on the effects of treatment on the health and quality of life of cancer patients.

“Looking back at the past ten years it’s amazing to see the tremendous growth of the Foundation and the number of children that we have been able to help,” Gordon said. “I am also pleased that we are able to provide such a large commitment this year even in these difficult economic times.”

In addition to these two NASCAR celebrities, actors such as Mel Gibson, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, were named by Parade to this prestigious list.  The most charitable of all was Paul Newman, whose legacy since his death last year is over $21 million in support of health, education and environmental initiatives.