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Hanks Williams Jr. performs during the CMT Music Awards in 2008.
Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Christensen
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The Victory Junction Gang Camp helps sick kids experience the outdoors. The Gang is being supported this year by stars from NASCAR racing and country music, including Hank Williams Jr. and Chris Young, who will perform at the fifth annual Sprint Sound and Speed charity event on Jan. 8 and 9 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sprint Sound and Speed was founded by racing icon Kyle Petty and his wife Patty. Besides the Gang Camp, proceeds will benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame.
More than $400,000 was raised in 2008, according to festival organizers.
Other music performers on tap include Danny Gokey from "American Idol," Diamond Rio and Josh Turner.
The Victory Junction Gang Camp is located on 84 acres of land in Randleman, North Carolina, that was donated by the Pettys. Construction on a second, 71-acre location in Kansas City, Kansas, is due to begin this year (2010).
Victory Junction, a not-for-profit organization, offers year-round camping for kids ages six to 16 who have chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. The camp is supported by donations, and children and their families don't have to pay to attend.
More than 11,000 children and families from 47 states and three countries have camped at Victory Junction since it opened in 2004. Children who attend the camp live with conditions and illnesses including autism, cancer and spina bifida. Twenty-seven hospitals partner with the camp to help care for the kids while they're camping.
These kids can't attend regular summer camps, due to their medical needs, but this program allows them to enjoy nature and the environment.
Country music putting kids in the country? Not bad. And NASCAR's involvement will surely help "rev up" donations. Is that too one too many plays on words? Kyle Petty, by the way, has a band of his own and will perform at Sprint Speed and Sound.
To finish: The title sponsor Sprint will be recycling cell phones at the festival.
Via: CountryMusic.About.com.
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