George "Sonny" Whelen joined the Board of Directors of The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2011. He is the owner and Executive VP of Whelen Engineering, Co, Inc., which designs, manufactures and assembles safety lighting and siren systems for the emergency warning industry. The company was founded 60 years ago by his father, George W. Whelen III.
Whelen Motorsports, a division of Whelen Engineering, is partnered with NASCAR and is the "Officially Licensed Warning Lights of NASCAR." Whelen sponsors and promotes the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. Mr. Whelen retired in 2012 after a racing career as one of Whelen Motorsports' main drivers in such road racing series as the Viper Racing League, the Pirelli World Challenge and the Grand Am Rolex Series, and won two national championships in the Viper Racing League.
Mr. Whelen served as a board member of the Valley Shore YMCA and was a founding board member of the Maritime Bank. He also served on the Old Saybrook Board of Education and later as vice chairman of the Board of Finance. He is a member of the Old Saybrook Republican Town Committee and of the Board of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.