Victory Junction's growth proof of national support

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The way that Pattie and Kyle Petty see it, God cracked the door in Kansas City, and the communities surrounding the city kicked it wide open.

The Pettys, two of the more dynamically bundled fountains of energy you'll ever meet, were only too happy to ride the wave into a place that Kyle Petty says has "embraced" the concept of the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

And what's the result? There's a very good chance that Victory Junction Gang Camp II will break ground somewhere in the area, possibly as soon as this summer.

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That's a great thing. It's like a fairy tale -- the stuff of movie scripts.

"Build it and they will come." It's what the Pettys did earlier this decade, with the original Victory Junction Gang Camp that was built on 80 acres of land donated by Kyle Petty's father -- The King of NASCAR, Richard Petty -- in Randleman, N.C.

But reality, obviously, is no fairy tale and critical childhood illness is a harsh and all-too-common fact of life for many children and families in this country, and around the world.

The Victory Junction Gang Camp, like Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang camps before it, is trying to make a difference.

The success rate has been stunning, but at the same time nearly overwhelming. Victory Junction, which operates year-round, hosted nearly 4,000 children and their families in 2007 -- virtually the camp's capacity, Pattie Petty said last week.

So the Pettys had to begin looking for a possible location to expand the Victory Junction concept. Kansas City was only one location they initially considered, but after an invitation mailing went awry last year, and some 200 guests that were supposed to attend an informational meeting never were informed, divine providence might have gotten involved.

Kansas City Star sports columnist Randy Covitz authored a piece that appeared right after last fall's Cup race at Kansas Speedway. And thus began the groundswell of support that turned into an avalanche that will result in the camp locating in the heart of the Midwest.

"I guess we're going to Kansas," Kyle Petty said through a grin, after his wife had made some opening remarks at a news conference during Speedweeks to put their latest idea officially on the table.

The exact location is still up in the air, with another meeting scheduled in Kansas City this week. But the locale's reaction -- including offers to donate nine separate parcels of property, each in the neighborhood of 150 acres -- is pretty overwhelming evidence Kansas City wants the camp.

"When we went there and started talking, barriers that we thought may be there were not there," Kyle Petty said. "And opportunities were galore there, so we're very excited."

The Pettys were familiar with the Kansas City area even before NASCAR racing hit there with both feet in 2001, with the opening of Kansas Speedway. The Sprint telecommunications company sponsored Adam Petty, their late teenaged son, in the early stages of his racing career.

"Feel your heart race" is the motto of Victory Junction. If you think of the joy in so many children's faces that so many people have witnessed around racetracks -- multiply it a thousand-fold for the kids whose days are consumed with treatments and pills and injections and therapy, when they're at Victory Junction.

Sprint, which began a sponsorship relationship with Petty Enterprises in 1996 and sponsored Adam Petty's racing efforts, continues to honor Petty's memory with its support of the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Children and children's causes were big deals to Adam Petty. After he died in a crash at New Hampshire in 2000, his family conceived the idea of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, which serves as a point of relief for critically ill children and their families.

With Victory Junction in the preliminary stages of a possible expansion into the Kansas City area -- not coincidentally the headquarters for Sprint Nextel -- the company has stepped up to continue its support by launching a text-to-pledge program that benefits the camp.

Designed to make donating easier, supporters can submit a pledge from any cell phone by texting their e-mail address to the number VJKIDS or 855437. In response to their pledge, they will receive an e-mail directing them to complete the donation. All proceeds benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

As another means to support the Camp, Sprint last year instituted the "Recycle for Victory" program, a wireless-recycling program that helps prevent millions of phones from ending up in landfills. The program accepts all makes and models of phones, regardless of service provider and the net proceeds benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

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Victory Junction is an all-too-brief respite for them. But the way the greater Kansas City area is looking at it, it's one more way to continue to build on the community's legacy of philanthropy and caring -- of creating community pride.

"So many things are being done to benefit so many folks, by so few," said Tim Cowden, senior vice president of the Kansas City Area Development Council, in praising the Pettys and the NASCAR community for their support of Victory Junction. "It's just unbelievable what these guys are doing -- it's really, really cool."

The benefit to the greater Kansas City area isn't lost on him, either.

"This is a great opportunity for the area," Cowden said last week, "and two states, 18 counties and 50-plus communities have stepped up to support it."

Kyle Petty said it was a revelation to him just how much infrastructure improvements and ongoing bills to keep the North Carolina location of Victory Junction cost. It wasn't pointed out, but it's maybe like, uh, operating a race team?

The Pettys spoke of the KC area's pledges of financial support for their project, and Cowden said the benefit to families from across the Midwest and beyond weren't subject to a price tag.

That someone could so convincingly "get it" is pretty refreshing, truth be told.

"This isn't about dollars and cents," Cowden said. "This is about helping kids and helping families. Right now, it can be difficult for them to get to Randleman, N.C., if they live in Oklahoma or Utah or Arizona.

"This is going to open up so many more opportunities for these kids and families who really need it, and that's why we're so excited about this coming to Kansas City -- a place that's a very welcoming community that's built on partnerships and philanthropy."

Sounds like a place where the Petty family, and their beloved concept of Victory Junction, would thrive, to me.

"How truly down to earth, and how committed they are to this cause [is the biggest thing]," Cowden said of what he's learned about the Pettys. "I didn't know a lot about the camp, prior to meeting with the Pettys back in the fall, but that's been the real gratifying part of working with them -- just seeing how they relate to these kids."

The Pettys know what teamwork means, and the Petty family continually thanks everyone -- particularly those in the racing community -- who has selflessly stepped up to support the camp. And ironically that's become part of the problem at the current location.

Thanks to sizeable contributions from Cup drivers Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson, an indoor sports complex and a bowling alley were recently built on camp grounds. Space is tapped out.

And how important is more space?

"I've said it to you guys a hundred times," Kyle Petty said last week. "If there was a camp like this on every corner, there's still not enough camps for these kids -- that's just how simple it is."

But in Kansas City at least, the community once again has proven there's no limit to an open heart. So let the games begin.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.