Driven to Give: Meet The Oaks Academy

This week's featured charity: The Oaks Academy, a classical school serving diverse Indianapolis families since 1998.

As we count down to Driven to Give on Saturday, October 24th, we're continuing to feature the charities that will benefit from the generosity of the Indianapolis automotive community. This week: The Oaks Academy.

The Oaks Academy is a Christ-centered, classical school in downtown Indianapolis, and since 1998 it has done something genuinely distinctive. It brings together children from a wide range of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and gives them all the same rich, rigorous education, preparing them to succeed in demanding high schools and to lead lives of purpose. Across four campuses, it's building a community of belonging in a part of the city that benefits deeply from it.

That's exactly the kind of organization Driven to Give exists to support, and the way the event works makes that support go remarkably far.

Here's how. Through the generosity of Turner Woodard and the Woodard Van Riper Family Foundation, each driver's entry fee is matched and donated to the charity of that driver's choice. So the giving is doubled before the day even begins. And because Driven to Give is a poker run, there's more on the table: the top three poker hands collected throughout the day earn an additional $6,000, $4,000, or $2,000, all of which enhances the payout to those drivers' chosen charities.

It adds up to a model where a great day of driving translates directly into meaningful dollars for organizations doing real work, like The Oaks Academy. Drive well, play a lucky hand, and a school full of Indianapolis kids benefits.

We're proud to help direct support to The Oaks Academy, and we'll feature more of the worthy charities behind Driven to Give in the days ahead.