• #givingtuesday

    This #GivingTuesday we are raising money for Youth Camps for Christ | Camp Willow Springs & Camp Willow Run and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500! On GivingTuesday Dec 3, Facebook will match a total of $7 million in donations first come, first served. You can give using the button below or visit campwillowsprings.org or campwillowrun.org to give to dormitory construction or DJJ camper sponsorships. Thank you for your support!

  • Celebrating 50 Years!

    Throughout this year we have had the privilege to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Youth Camps For Christ, Inc. and its Christian camping and retreat ministries of Camp Willow Run (CWR) established in 1968 and Camp Willow Springs (CWS) established in 2014. In June, we hosted a 50th anniversary celebration event for staff alumni. Over 550 staff and guests attended! J.D. Greear, pastor of the Summit Church and a former CWR summer speaker, challenged us from Psalm 126 as he talked about faith and sacrifice. He defined faith as the audacious expectation that God will do something, against even incredible odds and shared that this is the kind of faith…

  • LKG Gazette-Observer: Celebrating a Hard Fought Legacy

      “Two families celebrate the act of changing sorrow into joy. Years of hard work culminated in a celebration marked with superheroes and fun Saturday when the Alana and Chrissy Memorial dedicated their dorm building at Camp Willow Springs at Lake Gaston.” [continue reading at www.lakegastongazette-observer.com]  

  • “Camp, an iPad, and Jesus”

    As we prepared to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, my son, Thad, was given a school assignment to write a paragraph about the things for which he is thankful. Thad wrote: “I am thankful for a lot of stuff.  Here are some things.  I am thankful for my family, my dog, a house, food, Camp Willow Run and Camp Willow Springs, a bed, an iPad, legos, friends, God, and Jesus.  The thing I am most thankful for is God and Jesus because God made me and Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.  Those are the things I am thankful for.” – Thad Harris, 4th grade  What…

  • An Update from YCFC, Inc.

    This past summer we received an encouraging note from a young woman who attended camp as part of our outreach ministry to the NC Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).  The note said: I attended your camp a long time ago, and it absolutely changed my life.  I was a young teenager incarcerated at a juvenile detention center and was given the opportunity to go to Camp Willow Run for good behavior.  I still to this day have some of the most vivid, beautiful, and inspiring memories of my time there.  It truly changed my life.  The music, the fellowship, the pure joy of life I felt in that one week…

  • A Special Delivery!

    Davis Cooley, a former camper, recently completed and donated four picnic tables for Camp Willow Springs as a part of his Eagle Scout project.  The tables are a welcome addition and will benefit campers for years to come. A big thank you to Davis and those involved in the project! There are several similar opportunities to donate time or a special project at CWS and CWR. Please contact us if you have an idea of a way to contribute to the camps.

  • Development Update – Spring 2014

    As we open CWS this summer, we are reminded of God’s great provision for CWS and of the faithful partners He has provided to help us reach this point.  In 2013, friends of CWS provided a matching gift offer of $150,000 toward the pool complex.  As a result, any gift designated for the pool was matched dollar for dollar up to this amount.  Thank you for collectively giving $162,000 to complete this matching gift offer.  The total cost of the pool complex is $445,000 and work on the pool interior and pool house will be complete soon. We will serve up to 80 campers per week this summer.  The plan…

  • CWS Alumni Workday Recap & Pictures

    We had a great turn out for our third Camp Willow Springs Alumni Workday on Saturday, April 12. Former Camp Willow Run staff as well as family and friends came together to work on a number of projects. CWS is now that much closer to being ready for campers! To see all of the pictures from the workday, click here to go to the Facebook album. Some of the projects that were worked on included: Landscaping around buildings. Cleaning up dorms so carpet can be put down. And clearing brush around the CWS to CWR path. The day ended with a devotion led by Mrs. Harris and a few games…

  • Board of Directors visit CWS

    On Wednesday, several members of the Board of Directors visited the Camp Willow Springs site to tour the nearly completed dormitories with the Executive Director, Director of Operations & Development, and the general contractor.  After the tour, the Board of Directors met to discuss and plan for the next steps in completing Phase One of  Camp Willow Springs.

  • Saturday Visitors

    We have had a great summer of showing the Camp Willow Springs site to visitors.  On Saturdays, after the CWR closing program, a number of families have joined us at CWS to see the dormitory construction, learn more about the project, and enjoy a cup of cookie mush – a camper favorite.