|
|
|
PITTSBURG —
In addition to the usual training sessions for officers, board meetings and some great southeast Kansas food, Kiwanis members from across Kansas raised more than $20,000 for charity during their Mid-Year Conference at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
“This is the first time in eight years that we’ve held this conference in Pittsburg,” said Janette Mauk, Pittsburg, Southeast Kansas Division lieutenant governor and event organizer. “Everything has gone fairly smoothly.”
The event began Thursday at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium with training for incoming lieutenant governors, and continued Friday with Kansas Kiwanis Foundation and Board of Trustee meetings and a Kansas District reception, with a presentation by Steve Siemens, Des Moines, a former Kiwanis International president.
Main activities were scheduled Saturday, featuring a special talk by Pattie Petty of the Petty Foundation, Randleman, N.C. The Petty family opened the Victory Junction Gang Camp for terminally and chronically ill children in 2004 near Randleman, in memory of son Adam Petty, a teenage race car driver who had been working at starting such a camp when he was killed in 2000 during a practice run at the New Hampshire International Speedway.
Plans call for opening a new Victory Junction Camp near the Kansas Speedway, and Kansas Kiwanis has pledged $250,000 to build a cabin at this camp.
“I am in awe of standing in front of a group of people who have done as much as you have done,” Petty said. “We have been working for 2 1/2 years to build a camp in Kansas, and we will come here bigger, better, faster, stronger.”
She told of her son, Adam, a born racer from the time he was 6. At 14 1/2, the young stock car racer had a lucrative sponsorship with Sprint, and later signed one of the largest NASCAR sponsorships with Sprint.
“Adam was the first four-generation athlete in our nation to participate in the same sport as the other three generations,” Petty said.
Her husband is veteran racer Kyle Petty. Adam’s grandfather was seven-time champion Richard Petty, and his great-grandfather was two-time champion Lee Petty.
Petty said that her son had visited Camp Carefree, a camp for terminally/chronically ill children in Stokesdale, N.C., and was inspired by that to start such a camp. Plans were already in the works by May 11, 2000.
“Adam called that day and said he had the fastest car at the New Hampshire International Speedway,” Petty said. “He was just going to do a few laps to shake it down. Then we got a call that Adam had hit a wall. I pray that no one in this room ever gets a call like that. Your whole world changes. Even more amazing, the sun comes up the next morning and the world goes on. It shouldn’t. You don’t want it to.”
In addition to the usual training sessions for officers, board meetings and some great southeast Kansas food, Kiwanis members from across Kansas raised more than $20,000 for charity during their Mid-Year Conference at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
“This is the first time in eight years that we’ve held this conference in Pittsburg,” said Janette Mauk, Pittsburg, Southeast Kansas Division lieutenant governor and event organizer. “Everything has gone fairly smoothly.”
The event began Thursday at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium with training for incoming lieutenant governors, and continued Friday with Kansas Kiwanis Foundation and Board of Trustee meetings and a Kansas District reception, with a presentation by Steve Siemens, Des Moines, a former Kiwanis International president.
Main activities were scheduled Saturday, featuring a special talk by Pattie Petty of the Petty Foundation, Randleman, N.C. The Petty family opened the Victory Junction Gang Camp for terminally and chronically ill children in 2004 near Randleman, in memory of son Adam Petty, a teenage race car driver who had been working at starting such a camp when he was killed in 2000 during a practice run at the New Hampshire International Speedway.
Plans call for opening a new Victory Junction Camp near the Kansas Speedway, and Kansas Kiwanis has pledged $250,000 to build a cabin at this camp.
“I am in awe of standing in front of a group of people who have done as much as you have done,” Petty said. “We have been working for 2 1/2 years to build a camp in Kansas, and we will come here bigger, better, faster, stronger.”
She told of her son, Adam, a born racer from the time he was 6. At 14 1/2, the young stock car racer had a lucrative sponsorship with Sprint, and later signed one of the largest NASCAR sponsorships with Sprint.
“Adam was the first four-generation athlete in our nation to participate in the same sport as the other three generations,” Petty said.
Her husband is veteran racer Kyle Petty. Adam’s grandfather was seven-time champion Richard Petty, and his great-grandfather was two-time champion Lee Petty.
Petty said that her son had visited Camp Carefree, a camp for terminally/chronically ill children in Stokesdale, N.C., and was inspired by that to start such a camp. Plans were already in the works by May 11, 2000.
“Adam called that day and said he had the fastest car at the New Hampshire International Speedway,” Petty said. “He was just going to do a few laps to shake it down. Then we got a call that Adam had hit a wall. I pray that no one in this room ever gets a call like that. Your whole world changes. Even more amazing, the sun comes up the next morning and the world goes on. It shouldn’t. You don’t want it to.”
She was faced with a choice.
“After something like that, you can be pitiful or powerful,” Petty said. “I still have my Adam days when I’m pitiful.”
But the family went ahead with Adam’s dream and built the camp. Thanks to donations from other NASCAR racers and caring individuals, and corporate sponsorships, there is no charge to attend the camp, which includes a hospital staffed full-time by nurses and doctors to administer any treatments the children require.
“Someone asked if this is a camp of last resort,” Petty said. “Our children cannot go elsewhere. They can’t go to the mall or a movie theater. We were seeing children from way too far away at our camp, so we decided the best thing to do was take the camp to them. That’s why we decided to have a camp in Kansas.”
Mark Potter and Dave Hurrlebrink, Kansas City, Kan., became aware of the project.
“We presented it to Kiwanis in August, and had our first fundraiser, a barbecue, in September in Kansas City,” Potter said. “When I came here we had $22,000 in the bank toward our $250,000 goal. Thanks to the fundraising here, I’ve collected another $20,793.”
Activities included a fundraising pancake feed Saturday morning at Applebee’s.
“They told us it was the biggest fundraiser they’ve had there,” Mauk said. “We had 200 there.”
The Kiwanians also collected diapers, baby formula, baby wipes and other supplies for Wesley House as recipient of the Young Children Priority One Project.
“Those who know me know I am rarely speechless,” said Ellie Foster, Wesley House pastor/CEO. “When I saw all those items, I couldn’t find words. Somebody asked me if we really had that many babies in Crawford County who need diapers. Yes, we do.”
