Man walks to let people know about camp

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

While some people put their money where their mouth is, Steve Young uses his feet. Young has been walking across the country the past eight years to help bring awareness to a North Carolina camp created for children with a variety of medical disorders.

Young was in Van Wert on Monday as part of his seventh multi-state walk to make people aware of the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, North Carolina. The camp, begun in 2004 by NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty, his wife, Pattie, and their friends and colleagues, provides a fun experience for children with medical problems as diverse as cancer and spina bifida.

The Pettys started the camp to honor their son, Adam, who was killed in 2000 at age 19 in a practice race crash. The younger Petty had made it a point to visit children in the hospital who were battling chronic disease when he wasn’t racing, and his family decided to continue that interest with a children’s camp for medically challenged children.

Young said his interest in racing was what first led him to the camp. “I’ve been around racing all my life — we grew up (NASCAR racer Richard) Petty fans,” Young said.

But Young also had a bigger reason to support a camp that helped children who had birth defects and a variety of other ailments.

“More important — and a larger catalyst for me — is a girl I grew up with who had severe birth defects,” he explained.

Young said that girl, Laurie, who was the same age as his younger sister, was a “Thalidomide baby” from the 1950s and had been born without much of her hands and feet.

When Young heard of the Victory Junction camp, and learned that the Petty family was involved, two of his major interests intersected — with a little help from the Lord.

Young points to the sky and says “the Lord” when asked what got him started walking back in 2007, although he also jokes that he “went out for milk and kept on going.” He also cites two Bible verses, Romans 10:9, which talks about being saved, and Hebrews 13:2, which addresses hospitality to strangers, as underpinnings for his walking crusade.

Young, a south Florida native, said his first walk went from Florida to California and back.

In the past eight years, Young has covered more than 27,000 miles on six walks and visited 42 states. His said his current 31-state jaunt — his seventh overall — will add four more states — North and South Dakota, Colorado and Utah — to his total, making a total of 46 when he finishes this walk next year.

Young plans to walk to Williston, North Dakota, and then return home to Patrick Springs, Virginia, sometime around this time next year for a round trip of approximately 7,000 miles.

While on his journeys, Young also visits churches (500 and counting, so far) and museums. He said Main Street Van Wert Program Manager Adam Ries gave him two museums, the Van Wert County Historical Museum and Central Insurance Companies’ Fire Museum, as good places to visit.

Young said he also is interested in architecture, and called the Van Wert County Courthouse the most ornate he has seen yet on his travels.

He also meets a lot of people along the way — and seems to remember most of their names — and also has had a variety of interesting experiences, including a few encounters with dogs and wild animals, such as coyotes and wolves, and being the target of rude motorists who decide to pitch trash or bottles at him (he’s only been hit once, though).

Although Young was given a room at the Fountain Inn Motel on West Main Street while in Van Wert, he says he usually camps out when he’s done walking for the day (he said he usually averages 12 miles or so a day, but that varies).

In addition to a big walking stick that’s also useful for keeping animals at bay, Young carries approximately 80 pounds of gear, including a tent, in his backpack.

While he said he doesn’t know exactly how much money he’s raised for Victory Junction Gang Camp, Young says he knows it’s in the thousands. He also said he doesn’t know exactly when he’ll stop his cross-country walks.

“Each time I think I’m done walking, but then the Lord brings me out my front door and I go cover more states,” Young said with a smile.

When he’s not walking, Young is writing, with one book about his adventures completed and another in the works.

For more information on Victory Junction Gang Camp, go to www.victoryjunction.org. Young can be emailed at steveyoung5673@yahoo.com and can also be found on Facebook as well.