SUMMERTIME...
and the Givin' is easy

Our Labor Day cover couple, Amy and Brian France, aren’t just NASCAR’s royal family—they also support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation at one of the season’s most noted annual charity benefits, the Paddle & Party for Pink, among many other charitable causes. Brian is NASCAR’s third generation chairman and CEO. He and Amy live in Manhattan and spend time in the Hamptons when they’re not overseeing the multibillion-dollar sports property, one of the most successful mom-and-pop businesses in the world. But the first family of stock racing are anything but elitist. When Brian was a young lad, he asked his father if he had a trust fund; Dad said no, and instead gave him a job as a janitor at a track.

Now Amy and Brian, parents of five-year-old twins Luke and Meadow, have formed the Luke and Meadow Foundation to help provide whatever needs of children that aren’t being met. This extraordinarily philanthropic family now hopes to fi ll in the gaps with their eponymous new organization. As summer comes to a close, the Frances are “gearing up” for a busy fall of social do-gooding. This year, Amy France cochairs the 2016 Angel Ball, on November 21, while continuing to expand the Luke and Meadow Foundation. Take a look at the cover story for more on one of the fastest—and most charitable—families in America.

Save the date: The NASCAR Foundation hosts its first-ever Honors Gala, where it will unveil the winner of its Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, presented by Nationwide. It will be held on September 27, 2016, at the Marriott Marquis. For tickets, call 212-254-6677.

While you’re at it, save these dates too: The Hamptons International Film Festival is October 6 to 10, the New York Women’s Foundation Gala is October 13, the New Yorkers for Children Gala is October 15, the New York Philharmonic’s 175th Anniversary celebration is October 21, and the Alzheimer’s Association’s Rita Hayworth Gala is October 25, just to name a few. It’s all in our Events Calendar.

As you peruse our exciting Labor Day issue, don’t miss Jeffrey Lyons’s movie reviews, Jill Brooke’s travel piece, Victoria Kelsey’s book reviews, Aubrey Reuben’s Broadway reviews, Lou Carvell’s popular car column, and the latest Hamptons charity galas of this season—since giving back is a great Hamptonite pastime.

And as summer nears the end (blink and it’s over!), you will definitely see me at all the best-of-the-best galas and private parties as we waltz into the fall season. One thing you might also see me doing is working on a passion project of mine: I am doing a series of portraits of philanthropists for a book and exhibition…those you know from reading the headlines and those you might not know because they like to give without fanfare. I want to capture the essence of people who give selflessly to others—but shhhhhhh, it’s a secret! It's all in The Sheet.