Giving Back: OKI Spearheads Fundraiser to Benefit Kids’ Nonprofit
The project was the brainchild of OKI Data Americas but the company says it had a lot of help in pulling it together.
Irving, Texas-based OKI Data Americas, a manufacturer of wide-format printers used in the wraps industry, spent most of 2018 organizing a fundraising campaign for Victory Junction, a nonprofit camp in the North Carolina mountains that serves children with serious-and sometimes terminal-illnesses and their families.
Victory Junction opened in 2004 and was the dream of Adam Petty, a fourth-generation race car driver from that storied racing family who died tragically during a race at age 19. When he wasn’t racing, Adam was known to spend a lot of time visiting those dealing with illnesses, especially children.
OKI Data Americas purchased a muscle car and had it customized inside, outside and under the hood to raise money for Victory Junction. The car made its public debut at the recent SEMA show in Las Vegas, and will be auctioned off by Mecum Auctions in Kissimmee, Florida, on Jan. 12. OKI will donate the proceeds to Victory Junction, a benefactor of SEMA Cares, the philanthropic arm of SEMA that is dedicated to enriching the lives of, and providing opportunities for, children with critical (and terminal) illnesses.
According to Holly Fergus, senior manager of corporate marketing for OKI Data Americas, pulling the whole project together took about nine months in all. And although it was OKI’s idea, the company had a lot of help, she says.
OKI bought the car and donated all the media and graphics. And it pushed the idea of the end product being a souped-up muscle car, something that would be visually arresting and a thrill to drive.
Petty’s Garage, Richard Petty’s high-performance speed shop, took the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro SS off the assembly line and, with Bradley Sisson‘s design, added enough custom features to extract every ounce of horsepower possible out of the engine. It also added the window etching, Petty’s Garage badges and the race-inspired spoiler. Roadwire designed the custom interior, and Troy Downey‘s APE Wraps installed the wrap, which was printed on Avery Dennison vinyl by an OKI Color Painter M-64 printer.
