Victory Junction Gang Announces Site Selection for Midwest Camp

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Sept. 26, 2008 - Victory Junction Gang today announced a site selection for its second, medical camping facility for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. The expansion of Victory Junction will be located at 8205 Riverview Road, Kansas City, Kan., and built on 71 acres in Wyandotte County, Kan., pending Unified Government review and approval.

Victory Junction Gang is a year-round facility that enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. As a not-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of generous donors to provide this experience free of charge to children and families.

Early 2008, co-founders Kyle and Pattie Petty announced plans to expand to the ‘Heartland’ and spread the once-in-a-lifetime experience with children in need.

"As Victory Junction accepted more and more children from across the United States, we realized the need for a camping experience such as ours was far greater than one camp could serve,” said co-founder and chief executive officer Pattie Petty. "With that, we began our search in the central part of the country and an area that is philanthropically driven to serve the greater good. Kansas immediately became a haven and strong advocate for this project.”

Since identifying the region for its second facility, Victory Junction hired Wells Fargo executive Mike Lepore to serve as president of the Midwest camp. Lepore is responsible for the success of the capital campaign and all aspects of the new camp’s operations. Thus far, he has garnered more than $4 million in contributions and in-kind donations, including NASCAR Sprint Cup SeriesTM Champion Tony Stewart’s recent pledge of $1 million.

Victory Junction has assembled local market campaign chairs which include former Kansas Governor Bill Graves, Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Joe Reardon, Jeff Boerger, president of Kansas Speedway, and Greg Graves, chief executive officer of Burns & McDonnell Engineering.

"Victory Junction has been blessed by the support received thus far, not only from donors and interested volunteers but from area hospitals as well,” said Petty. "To grow this new facility, it is imperative to have the right partners to provide the necessary funds to operate, to send qualified children to our camp and to provide the volunteer manpower to meet our children’s needs.”

The camp in Kansas is expected to break ground in 2009