Our Story

Read about the history of Camp Promise, the creation of “Pigasus,” and meet Jett Foundation’s camp directors!

Camp Promise was founded in 2009 after the sudden cancellation of camps for people with muscular dystrophy. In just six weeks, we found a wheelchair-accessible camp facility in Vaughn, WA, filled an activities calendar for the week, enrolled 27 campers (and 35 volunteers to care for them), and raised $16,000 to pay for it all – thanks to the generosity of individual donors.

In 2011, we added Camp Promise East to our tour, serving an additional group of campers on the East Coast.

In 2014, we were brought out to Denver, CO by a group of local families to run Camp Promise Rockies and have been there ever since!

In 2022, we finally launched our 18+ Camp Promise Retreats in Ohio and Arizona after waiting two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Camp Promise Directors

Niki Benfield

Camp Promise Operations Director

Read Bio

Meghan Houston

Camp Promise Program Director

Read Bio

Meet Pigasus!

Pigasus is our pink flying pig. Pigasus symbolizes both where we came from and where we are going, and tells our story in 3 parts:

Pigasus is a visual representation of how Camp Promise initially came to be. The 2009 outbreak of H1N1 flu, also known as “swine flu”, forced the cancellation of many camps nationwide. As this was the initial impetus for starting Camp Promise, our logo represents our inaugural summer of camp when pigs flu (flew). Admittedly, this may be where our love for puns originated!
Between the conception of Camp Promise and the first week of camp in 2009, we had only six short weeks to build a leadership team, find a wheelchair accessible facility, fundraise $16,000, recruit volunteers and campers, and plan a week’s worth of camp activities. It took a lot of magic to deliver that first session of camp, but having Pigasus as our logo symbolizes the efforts for when the odds of pulling off camp seemed as likely as pigs flying.
Pigasus also illustrates Camp Promise’s continued commitment to making the impossible possible. We take it upon ourselves to adapt the world to our campers’ needs and abilities; no task is too small and no request is too hard. At Camp Promise, we embrace challenges and our goal is to achieve the things most others might doubt, the things to which others might say “when pigs fly.”

Pigasus is VERY important to us and we treat Pigasus like our pet: Pigasus goes where we go (our forms, t-shirts, and even to camp). Pigasus is legally part of our family (yes, it’s trademarked!), and as much as we love costumes, we don’t ever dress up Pigasus. Pigasus always faces left and is always this exact shade of pink. If you want to use our logo, please contact us for our branding guidelines.