Charitable foundation is near to heart of brothers Elliott and Hermie Sadler

Richard Petty Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler and his brother, Speed commentator and occasional racer Hermie Sadler, know first-hand about the conditions their foundation focuses on.

Hermie’s daughter, Halie Dru, was diagnosed with autism at age 2. Their mother, Bell, was diagnosed with breast cancer a little more than six years later.

So the goal of the Hermie and Elliott Sadler Foundation is two-fold: to raise awareness for both conditions.

“The night my mom got diagnosed with cancer, my life changed like that,” says Elliott, the younger of the two siblings. “I’d never been in that situation. I’d heard people talk about it, but I couldn’t relate to it.”

It was at about 10 p.m. on June 30, 2007, when the Sadler brothers - at New Hampshire International (now Motor) Speedway for NASCAR race weekend activities - got a call from their mother saying that she not only had cancer but would need surgery and chemotherapy treatments if she hoped to live.

Wanting to help others going through the same fight, Elliott and Hermie added breast cancer awareness as a second pillar to their foundation, which became a drive for autism awareness after the family went public with Halie’s condition in 2002.

The foundation had been launched in 2000 when the Sadlers initiated a celebrity basketball game to raise money for playground equipment and computers at all the high schools near their hometown of Emporia, Va., but it took a turn a couple of years later.

At the time of Halie Dru’s diagnosis, there wasn’t as much known as there is today about autism, which is billed as the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States and affects one in 150 children.

“Pretty much we’re sitting around the family dinner table that night of when she got diagnosed, and us as family members really didn’t know what autism meant,” Elliott says. “We pretty much had to look it up in the encyclopedia. ‘What is autism? What does it cause?’ We didn’t know which way to turn, which way to go.”

And just as the brothers refocused their foundation once, they did so again after their mother’s diagnosis and found that breast cancer is more common, affecting about one in eight women.

These days the foundation stages several charitable events throughout the year in support of research and treatment for breast cancer and autism. They range from bowling tournaments to barn parties to monthly online auctions at the foundation’s web site, www.SadlerFoundation.org.

“It just has grown beyond our wildest imaginations,” says Hermie, a former full-time driver in what is now known as the Nationwide Series who has made starts in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.

“The fans have come on board and really helped us and get behind all of our projects, and because of that, we’ve been able to not only help families in our area but also families all over the country with different autism awareness initiatives. So it’s all to the fans a credit that we’ve been able to grow the foundation like we have.”

Elliott’s Cup sponsors also assist with various initiatives throughout the year on the driver’s behalf, with Best Buy boosting autism awareness and Stanley boosting the fight against breast cancer.

The brothers continue to do their part as well.

At the April 5 race at Texas Motor Speedway, for instance, Elliott donned a helmet featuring the multicolored puzzle pieces that have become the symbol for autism awareness, along with the pointing-forward arrow that is prominently placed on all his helmets.

The helmet is up for online auction at the foundation web site to raise money for autism-related charities.

“It’s got a lot to do with money, but it’s got more to do with awareness, and everybody has had a part in it,” Hermie says of the foundation. “NASCAR, the television networks, everybody that we’ve ever gone to looking for an outlet to tell people, just making people aware of autism, has been just as important as the money we’ve raised. When you’ve got millions and millions of loyal fans watching you every weekend, listening to what you say, it really gives you a big advantage to get your word across.”

Last fall, Elliott drove a black and pink-colored Dodge in the Cup race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Stanley later made a $100,000 donation to Susan G. Komen, and all the items from Sadler’s race uniform were auctioned off, with proceeds going to the cause.

It was the first time in the tool company’s 165-year history that the sponsor’s logo wasn’t its traditional yellow.

“It’s cool that we’re able to meet new families, and we’re able to do small things here and there to try to raise money for different charities, but it’s even cooler when your sponsors get on board with you,” Elliott says.

Last summer, Sadler’s car featured a special paint scheme in conjunction with the Best Buy 400 Benefiting Student Clubs of Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

Autism Awareness puzzle pieces imprinted all over the car highlighted the design, and a hood to commemorate the event was included in the artwork. The hood, autographed by Sadler, was later auctioned off on the foundation web site, with the money going to Student Clubs of Autism Speaks.

Such promotional efforts are not just reserved for certain occasions anymore, though.

The ribbons for autism and Susan G. Komen are now prominently painted on the roof of all of Sadler’s Cup cars.

“That’s the last thing I look at before I get in the car each and every Sunday and just remind me of kind of why I race and the heart and soul that you’ve got to put into it,” he says.

The good news for the Sadler brothers is that their mother’s cancer is now in remission. And she’s even feeling well enough to oversee the operations of her younger son’s fan club.

“My daughter’s doing great,” Hermie says. “My mom’s doing well, and along the way we’ve reached out to a lot of people, and a lot of people have reached out to us.”