Camp Fire USA - Greater Arizona Council
Camp Fire USA - Greater Arizona Council provides experiential and practical self-esteem-building programs to almost 20,000 children, kindergarten through college, throughout central and northern Arizona. Its one site-specific program, Camp Wamatochick, is Arizona's oldest continually operated youth camp.
In 1999, the Greater Arizona Council could not deny that the 79-year-old facility was in desperate need of repair. While Wamatochick was serving 3,000 children annually, the toilet and shower facilities were outdated and at capacity. Cabins needed to be replaced. The dining hall served 30,000 meals per year from a kitchen of 750 square feet.
Camp Fire conducted a study that year to determine the feasibility of a campaign to restore Wamatochick. The findings indicated moderate support for a goal of $1.5 million.
Finally, in 2001, under threat of imminent closure for health and safety reasons, Camp Fire's board of directors elected to proceed with a $3.5 million campaign to renovate and enlarge Wamatochick.
Camp Fire retained Powers Young & Company early in 2001 to begin its first-ever capital development campaign. An effective and dedicated campaign cabinet was enlisted. APS President Jack E. Davis took the role of campaign chairman. Lead gifts included a $500,000 grant from the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, a $400,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation, $250,000 from The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust and $214,000 from the Eugene C. Pulliam Trust.
"I was thrilled that we were successful in completing our campaign, particularly in these challenging economic times," said Vikki Scarafiotti, the organization's president and CEO. "Powers Young & Company and, in particular, Ben Powers, kept in step with the changes in the environment and modified our campaign strategy as we went along. The campaign was a lot of hard work, but Ben's passion and commitment kept us all going strong."
The campaign surpassed its $3.5 million goal and a renovated Wamatochick opened its doors just in time for the Spring 2003 camping season.
To learn more about Camp Fire of Greater Arizona and how you can help support its mission, please visit www.campfireaz.org.
For a full list of our clients, past and present, download this PDF file.
