Summer Testimonials

Many individuals have passed through the gates of Camp Capers and have numerious stories and memories to share. Here is a glimpse into how their time at Camp Capers transformed their lives.

Individuals of all ages are encouraged to send their summer testimonials to Laura Shaver at laura.shaver@dwtx.org. They may be edited and should be under 100 words.

Rachel Richter, Residential Coordinator, St. Jude's Ranch

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children is a non-profit organization that serves abused, abandoned and neglected children and families, creating new chances, new choices and new hope in a safe, homelike environment.  For more than 40 years, St. Jude’s Ranch for Children has provided a safe nurturing home, and therapeutic residential treatment services, to more than 1,000 children in Nevada and Texas.  St. Jude's Ranch is making a difference by creating new lives with new skills for abused, abandoned and neglected children of all races and faiths.  To read more on St. Jude's Ranch, please click here.

For as long as I can remember, Camp Capers has been the one thing that has kept me going.  Camp has been that place where I can simply be myself.  No worries, No fears.  I am able to let down the wall that I try so hard to keep up .  Camp has been the only true place where I have felt like I truly matter.  Camp has saved me in so many ways.  For the past few years things have been tough and at times I have felt like it was impossible to get over the challenges that I was faced with. But Camp giave me hope.  Because of camp I have learned to stay strong & have continued to push in the hardest of situations.  Because of camp, and the people there, I have continued to not give up.  I can honestly say that I would not be even close to the young woman I am today if I had not been blessed with the presence of camp.  Camp Capers is where I truly belong. Camp Capers is home.

You know that feeling when everything is right and life couldn’t get any better? Well that’s Camp Capers.  I have been going to Camp Capers for eight years as a camper and planning on counseling for the first time this summer.  People often ask me, “What’s so great about it?”  This is probably one of the hardest questions I’ve ever been asked.  With all of my effort I cannot put camp capers into words.  It is not a place, it is an experience.  For me, it was the chance to be with God.  I’m usually not a very religious person but Camp Capers is where I find God.  Year after year, I count down the days until I can go back, until I can return to my home.Everything from the food we eat, to the songs we sing, to the activities we do is purely amazing.  Camp food is the best.  It is home cooked and delicious.  Chapel and teaching is always awesome.  Growing up, I never really understood what they talked about in church on Sunday or why we believe the things we do.  At camp they explained it in a way that made sense to me.  I understood what we were talking about or learning about for the first time.Once you start going to Camp Capers, you quickly become what we call a “lifer” meaning it will always be a part of you.  The things I have learned at camp have taught me so much about who I am and so much about the person I want to grow up to be.  The people I have met there are, without a doubt, my best friends.  Ask anyone who has gone and they will say the same.  Camp is always going to be there whether you moved, your parents got divorced, or you lost someone special to you.  Everyone there understands and wants to help.  Not because they have to but because they genuinely want to.God is in that place.  He is in those people.  This is the reason I go back session after session, summer after summer.  It is my constant, my rock.  It is my home.

Growing up, I had two homes. One was a large two-story house in San Antonio, TX, where I lived with my family. My other home was very different than this city house; it was far away from the city. At this house, the weather was cooler, and it was much bigger than the houses in the city. This “house” is in Waring, TX, and is called Camp Capers. To read more of Thomas' article, click here.

In the summer of 1984, Greg Quisenberry and Judy Clapp were both asked to serve on Camp Capers summer staff.  Judy started going to camp when she was nine years old, but it was the first time Greg had ever been.  Greg was in cabin 7, and Judy was in cabin 4.  This was the summer my parents met. It was one of the best summers of their lives, and in 1989, Greg and Judy got married.

In 1992, they had their first daughter, me, Amanda; in 1994, their second daughter, my younger sister, Jill, was born.  I started going to camp the summer of 2001.  I was a tan, blonde-haired, scrawny little nine-year-old, and I couldn’t wait for my mom to hurry, make my top bunk, and leave, so I could begin to form my own memories and experiences in the fabulous place I’d heard so much about for my whole life.  I knew camp was the place my parents had met.  To read more of Amanda's article, click here.