When Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones pushed the pedal to the metal of his No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE in NASCAR’s second annual Chicago Street Race in July, UChicago Medicine AdventHealth and the 2024 International Pathfinder Camporee rode with him.
In a special tribute to the 60,000 campers from around the world who are expected to attend the weeklong Camporee in Gillette, Wyoming, in August, the side of Jones’ car featured a decal combining the AdventHealth name and the Camporee’s Believe the Promise logo.
The decal highlighted AdventHealth’s role as anchor sponsor of the Camporee, UChicago Medicine AdventHealth’s role as the Official Health Care Provider of the July 7 race, and AdventHealth’s sponsoring partnership with the Legacy Motor Club, a professional auto racing club that competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“Having the International Pathfinder Camporee decal on Erik’s car offered a great opportunity for AdventHealth to connect with Camporee attendees and to fuel their passion and excitement before the event,” said Hearly Mayr, director of stakeholder communication at AdventHealth. “Many Pathfinders might not have known about us, our connection to the Seventh-day Adventist Church and our collaboration with the Camporee. This unique opportunity not only brings attention to how we engage in the community but also helps young people start thinking about a career in health care and a life of service to others.”
In the weeks leading up to the race, Jones, fellow Legacy Motor Club driver John Hunter Nemechek, and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Richard Petty, the club’s ambassador, recorded video messages to Pathfinders, noting AdventHealth’s and the Camporee’s high profile at the race and inviting Camporee attendees to watch it. The messages were shared on social media.
Two days before the race, a replica of the race car was on display at a special pre-race event at the UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Hinsdale, which included local Pathfinders, as well as team members and family. AdventHealth later provided photos from the event for the Camporee website, newsletter and social-media sites.
“This was such a wonderful opportunity to connect Pathfinders to something so important like being present in the community wherever we are,” said Mayr.
“We were very excited to see the International Pathfinder Camporee represented on the racecar,” said Ron Whitehead, executive director of the International Pathfinder Camporee. “It was a great opportunity to have the Pathfinders learn more about AdventHealth and how the organization shows up in the communities it serves. And it helped to ramp up the excitement leading up to Camporee taking place just one month after the race.”
Through the promotions and communications surrounding the race, “we wanted our Camporee audience to know how excited we are about spending a week with them at the Camporee,” Mayr said. “Spotlighting our sponsorship roles also allowed us to convey how important it is to AdventHealth to be involved in and to support the communities we serve.”
AdventHealth will offer a variety of activities and honors classes for Pathfinders at the Camporee, including a replica of Jones’ race car. Pathfinders will also have the opportunity to consider what a life in health care might look like through the one-of-a-kind, highly interactive experience created by AdventHealth across 11,000 square feet of exhibit space. Among hands-on activities and engaging visuals, Pathfinders will learn about the health care system and its mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ.
“Often when you talk to young people about working in a hospital, they think automatically about physicians or nurses,” Mayr said. “We wanted to show that there’s so much more they can do and that there’s a place in health care for them, their passion and their God-given talents. We are committed to investing in the next generation of health care professionals.”
AdventHealth Communication
