A Great Cause Is 10 Years Old
Just read where Kyle & Patty Petty's Victory Junction Gang Camp has been in existence 10 years already! I visited VJGC just before Christmas back in 2005 or 2006. I happened to be in the Charlotte, NC area on business and I had some time to kill so I made the 2 hour drive over to Randolph County and Level Cross/Randleman, NC, the small NC towns where the Petty family has always lived and raced out of. I did the Petty museum in Randleman and the garage tour at the compound next to Lee and Elizabeth Petty's home and very near where The King grew up and still lives.
All of that was very cool as ya'll can imagine but the most heartwarming and fulfilling thing I did was go to Victory Junction Gang Camp just a mile or so from the Petty garages. I pulled up at the welcome center near the entrance to the camp area and there was a very nice lady there who was mainly an information person. I told her I didn't have an appointment nor did I have business with the camp but that I really wanted to see the place in person and asked her if there was any way I could have a tour of the facilities. She said if I didn't mind having the tour supervised by an older lady she would personally show me around. I was stunned that she would drop what she was doing and take time out of what I'm sure was a busy time for her, but she did. We jumped on a nearby golf cart and away we went. I saw the camp facilities as they were when the last group of children left them. Unmade beds and dirty dishes and all. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We toured the recreational building and the stables that housed animals that the children could be close to, etc.
She told me that each group of children is accompanied by medical personnel from nearby Duke University Medical Center that specialize in the specific disease afflicting the group of children that happen to be enjoying the camp that week. They make sure that each group of children who visit the camp are suffering from the same disease so as to not cause any child to feel different and they can all relate to each others medical problems.
I won't babble on here, although I could go on and on about the tour this fine lady allowed me to experience, I just wanted to advise anyone who may be in the Charlotte, NC area or any reasonably close proximity to Randolph County to maybe take a little side trip to Kyle & Patty Petty's Victory Junction Gang Camp that was conceived and built in honor of Kyle and Patty's son Adam Petty who was killed in a NASCAR Busch/Nationonwide during a practice session crash at New Hampshire back in May of 2000. It is believed that the throttle hung wide open going into #3.
The building shown in the attachment is an activity center and was fully funded by 6 time NASCAR Cup Champion Jimmy Johnson and his wife. Most, if not all the buildings were funded by NASCAR driver charitable foundations. I know Bobby Labonte was deeply involved, too.
Just a suggestion to anyone who is in that area of North Carolina to go to VJGC. I promise you will leave the place with a very good feeling. Believe it or not, my impromptu tour guide wouldn't take a cent for the personal tour, so instead I bought several Christmas decorations to go on the camp Christmas tree every year and I bought at least one of everything they had for sale in the welcoming center.
