Caterpillar Donates Motorcycle to Children's Charity
March 29, 2007 • Caterpillar, Inc., Peoria, Ill., recently donated a CAT custom chopper to the Victory Junction Gang Camp for seriously ill children. The charitable organization was founded and is supported by the Petty family of NASCAR racing fame, and it plans to use the motorcycle to raise funds for the camp.
The stated mission of the Victory Junction Gang Camp is to enrich the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering while in a safe and medically sound environment. Kyle and Pattie Petty founded the camp, located in North Carolina on land donated by Richard and Lynda Petty. The camp operates solely on donations and offers a unique opportunity for children whose medical needs keep them from attending standard camps.
The camp features a NASCAR racing theme, and it has been strongly supported by the NASCAR community. Caterpillar is now in its 14th season as a NASCAR sponsor • starting in 1993 as an associate sponsor of Kyle Petty's #42 Pontiac, in what was then the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Caterpillar now is the primary sponsor of the #22 car driven by Dave Blaney in the Nextel Cup Series.
Caterpillar officials donated the CAT chopper to the camp, represented by Petty family members, in a ceremony at the Caterpillar Building Construction Products Division in Clayton, N.C.
"I can't thank the folks at Caterpillar enough for donating this beautiful custom chopper to the camp," said Pattie Petty, chief executive officer and co-founder of Victory Junction. "This donation will help raise funds to continue to send children with chronic medical conditions to Victory Junction for a life-changing camping experience. The fact that Caterpillar has reached out to create such a great partnership with the camp speaks volumes about the company.”
The donated CAT Chopper is one of two identical custom motorcycles designed and fabricated for Caterpillar by Orange County Choppers, Inc. (OCC), the focus of the Learning Channel's hit American Chopper series. The CAT Chopper build episodes aired in April 2005, shortly after the bike was shown to the public as part of the Caterpillar exhibit at CONEXPO. Since then, both choppers have been "on tour" • making appearances at Caterpillar and Cat® dealer facilities, as well as trade shows throughout North America.
"Caterpillar and its dealers have used the CAT Chopper to raise money for a variety of charities nationwide," said Jay Alexander of the Caterpillar North American Commercial Division. "It is fitting that we help such a worthy program as the Victory Junction Gang Camp."
