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Michael
Waltrip and Richard Petty flank Tom Higgins for the
announcement |
Today at Fontana the Petty
family dream project, the Victory Junction Gang Camp got a boost from Best
Western Hotels with a $150,000 check to go towards the continuation of
building the facility. On hand for the presentation were Richard Petty,
Michael Waltrip, and Best Western President and CEO Tom Higgins.
“The purpose of this check is to fund the staff lodge at the camp that the
Petty family is opening in honor of Adam and all of the children that will
be attending.” Higgins said. “We hope that this is just the initial
contribution and participation in this unbelievably worthwhile project.”
Best Western is in the first year of a three-year agreement as NASCAR’s
Official Hotel and is also serving as an associate sponsor of Waltrip and
the Dale Earnhardt Inc.-owned #15 NAPA Chevrolet of the NASCAR Nextel Cup
Series.
Michael Waltrip, driver of the #15 NAPA Chevrolet has always been a strong
supporter of the camp and has volunteered to help during his off time. He
was very excited with Best Western’s participation in the program.
“I think that when you see video/pictures of the camp, it just makes you
want to give, it makes you want to do all you can do, to ensure that every
child in America has a chance to come to the camp,” Waltrip said. “I
know that Best Western’s involvement certainly ensures that more people will
be able to take advantage of the camp and I want to encourage everyone to
get the word out that the camp is coming together.”
NASCAR Legend Richard Petty also announced that the camp is going to open on
June 20, 2004 for business and the Petty family is eager to open up for the
kids.
“Every time you walk over (to the camp) and it gets closer I think we get
more excited,” Petty said. “The big deal is going to be, no matter how
excited we are, when those kids come through that tunnel and pop over that hill
and see the camp, I think that’s going to be worth everything that we spent
days and nights worrying about.”
“The kids are what’s going to make the final payment in the deal and that’s the
bottom line.”
This weekend is also the start of the 10th anniversary of the Kyle Petty’s
Charity ride that supports the efforts and building of the Victory Junction
Gang Camp.
The ride starts Saturday morning from Palm Springs with 160 to 170 riders
and will trek through the country and arrive at the Camp at the Petty
compound on Mother's Day.
“It’s the 10th year, and it’s a pretty big deal for us,” Kyle Petty said.
“It was a stupid idea that has hung on for a little while, kinda like NASCAR
really.”
“The original intent of the ride, we stopped at different children’s
hospitals all across the country. It was all about giving restricted funds,
and what we mean by restricted funds is we wanted our money to go to pay the
bills for kids that couldn’t pay the bills. We talked about building a camp
before Adam’s accident. After Adam’s accident we put everything on hold.
After a little while we thought it was one thing we could do to honor his
memory.”
“It gives these kids an opportunity to be kids. Most of the kids we see will
come straight from a hospital to the camp. If they’re well enough they’ll go
home for a short period of time but a lot of them will go straight back to
the hospital. We’re really excited about having our first group on June 20
this year,” Petty said.
The Victory Junction Gang Camp was founded by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and
his wife Pattie in honor on their late some Adam. The camp is a year-round,
multi-disease camp serving children from ages seven to fifteen with
life-threatening illnesses.
For more information on the camp or to make a donation, please visit the
following site,
http://www.victoryjunction.org.
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