Our Charity Partner

Each year, the Emerald City Hoedown designates a charity partner for the event.  Direct donations during the event and from registration go directly to the charity, and the Hoedown includes an amount from the Hoedown profits as well.

The 2025 charity partner will be Camp Ten Trees.

Camp Ten Trees was one of the first of its kind in the world and still offers the Pacific Northwest’s only residential summer camp programming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their allies and for children/youth of LGBTQ or non-traditional families.

Camp Ten Trees is a nonprofit residential camp in Washington State. Camp Ten Trees was founded in 2000 by four co-directors and offered its first summer camp session in August 2001, serving just 20 campers.  Since that time, we have served campers from throughout the United States and beyond. Camp Ten Trees is a place for diverse youth who share common experiences to come together and form a community that is truly their own.  In addition to traditional camp activities like swimming, archery, and nature hikes, campers engage in age-appropriate workshops exploring identity, issues of oppression/privilege, youth coalition building, social justice, and more.

Mission

Camp Ten Trees strives to create a socially-just, youth-empowered camp community for youth of LGBTQ and nontraditional families, LGBTQ youth, and their allies.

Values

Inclusion, Family, Integrity, Stewardship, Health, Courage, Leadership, Acceptance, and Play.