It’s hard to believe it’s already been a month since we were all together at CPW2018. Our 10th Birthday year set the bar pretty high for other milestone years, but it’s a challenge we’re ready to take on. For those of you who weren’t there (and those of you who were), we thought it would be fun to take a look back at the week and what made it so special.
A huge thank you to all the campers, volunteers, and donors who made this all possible. If you’d still like to donate to our program visit our donate page.
Camp by the numbers
- 10th year of Camp Promise-West
- 15 states and 2 countries represented
- 9 hospital beds rented
- 37 Firsts logged
- 29 campers
- 58 volunteer staff
- 5 campers and 4 volunteers inducted into the 10-Year Club
- 121 smiling faces, daily
- 17+ surprises and special guests
This year’s theme days included Cabin Color Day, Up Up and Away Day, Animal Farm Day, In the Kitchen Day, and Camp T-Shirt Day with shirts designed by one of our very own campers! We learned lots of new skills, including square dancing with caller Brett Kappenman, writing with Writing Out Loud, candle making with Edgewater Candles, and pizza making with Chef Chris. We rode virtual reality roller coasters with the help of Clowns Unlimited, off-road Action Trackchairs wheelchairs, and even a hot air balloon! As we looked back at the week during our Black and White Ball, it was clear we had made the week a celebration worthy of our 10-year anniversary.
Highlights included
- Pontoon boating and canoeing
- A first-ever slime fight
- Too many arts and crafts projects to count!
- Playing a real-life game of Clue all week, with a visit from the FBI visit at the end to help us solve the crime
- Corvettes from Corvettes de Olympia (including a new Seahawks-painted one)
- Hot Air Ballooning thanks to Reach for the Stars Hot Air Balloon Foundation (shout out to our amazing pilot, Kim!) and a grant from the Dralla Foundation, propane from CHS Northwest and Propane Services Now, and a coordinated effort with Key Pen Parks and Around the Sound Transportation
- Alpacas (thanks to Snow Mountain Alpacas)
- So! Many! Puppies!
- Mini horses (thanks Taylor and Little Hooves!)
- A petting zoo (thanks Debbie Doolittle’s Petting Zoo!)
- Pre-dance hair and makeup for our campers in Salon Promise (thanks Varonyka!)
- Visits from lots of alumni campers and volunteers during our birthday party
- A rockstar ProLo (programming and logistics) Team that kept everything moving smoothly
With so many activities, we celebrated LOTS of firsts by both campers and staff, including:
- Caught an M&M in my mouth
- Had my name tag taken
- Doing leather work in arts & crafts
- Went in a hot air balloon
- Made my own pizza
- Participated in an obstacle course
- Submitted art to an art gallery
- Drove an Action Trackchair
- Going to a writing class
- Making an FBI handprint
- Went on a boat
- Got a bullseye at archery
- Made a s’more
- Sat in a red corvette
- Did archery
- My service dog’s first time on a boat
- Made candles
- Opened my own gallery
- Made crystals for the first time
We were honored to have been a part of such an incredible week with such an wonderful volunteer staff of counselors, ProLo, Unit Leaders, nurses, respiratory therapist, and leadership who went all in to make our campers feel limitless. On behalf of our campers, their families, and the entire camp office, THANK YOU!
Want to catch up on ALL the fun? Check out our daily photo albums on our Camp Promise-West Facebook page.
–Post by Terin Izil
