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April 2024 by Anastasia C.
After attending Camp Don Lee last summer, my son was very excited to go back for the summer of 2024. As Christmas/birthday gift we registered him for two separate two week sessions. Unfortunately, on March 30, my son was in a horrific accident. He was hit by a car while riding his bike in our hometown of Emerald Isle, North Carolina. He was subsequently airlifted to ECU, where he underwent emergency surgery, was in the hospital for four days, and is now in a cast up to his hip and not weight-bearing on the leg for at least two months. Obviously, due to these unexpected injuries, we must cancel our summer camp plans, as he will be in rehab to gain use of his right leg again. Therefore, I reached out to Camp Don Lee so that I could cancel our camp plans, and open up his spot to a child that may be on the waitlist. When I inquired about receiving a refund for my deposit was told that I needed to seek out and purchase third-party camp insurance prior to trying to cancel. However, had I called on 1 April, they would have 'possibly' been able to help. (We were in the hospital, and summer camp was the LAST thing on my mind.) The lack of compassion and empathy shown was absolutely disgraceful. Camp Don Lee touts itself as a small Christian camp, and even in the mission statement they double down on Christian values. My experience has been that they are only concerned with money, not the actual human experience. I told the woman to keep the deposit as a donation to camp as obviously they needed it more than we did. If you were looking for a place that treats your family with Christian values, empathy, and compassion I would choose to go elsewhere. Camp Kirkwood in Burgaw is a great alternate choice.
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October 2023 by Laquelia Maye
They're not response to calls or emails. I tried for months to book a retreat and I could never get anyone to return my call nor answer my emails.
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August 2023 by Hali Ray
Wonderful camp with great amenities! Miss Mo and kitchen staff cooked up yummy food for each meal…like no other “camp” food I’ve ever had. I ate better at Don Lee than I ever would at home ? 10/10 recommend!
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August 2023 by Alanna Humphrey
Best place to send your children during the summer. Hands down for decades.
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June 2023 by Angelic Lily
I had so much fun here, I went here for a school trip and this was probably the best trip I’ve been on in years since Covid started, I already wish I was back since the trip was so short so hopefully I can go again!!
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April 2023 by DaBaby
Cabins and bathrooms were not clean food was terrible and director was rude and unresponsive to feedback
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February 2023 by By Felicia
Strongly discourage you from getting your hopes up! We corresponded through email for months setting up a very large school group of 175 families, they confirmed our date and itinerary. Then they emailed a month later saying they could no longer offer sailing, then 2 weeks later emailed saying they could not have us out bc they were blocking this date off for training. Very unprofessional! The camp is nice but they haven’t done much in yrs outside of summer camp. My families had taken off work and used vacation time etc.
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February 2023 by Chelsea S
Incredibly disappointed with Don Lee Camp (and especially the coordinator Katie Lilly) and their unresponsiveness and uncaring attitude. The camp has obviously gone downhill and is no longer reliable.Our group has gone here in the past, but this time our group leader had to spend MONTHS with Don Lee Camp trying to get a single homeschool day or private event set up for this year. Email communications literally took WEEKS to get responses and they only answered the phone ONCE in dozens of attempts over the past several months' time. They finally got back to her on January 13th saying, "This email confirms that we have March 24th set aside" for our group, so we all worked our schedules around it, including vacation plans and time off.Then yesterday Don Lee Camp emailed our group leader to say everything the camp previously promised our group was now "blocked off" because they are now having a "weekend staff training for our high school summer staff" and "all other dates for this spring are booked." So apparently they are canceling our confirmed Friday camp date to train people who are in school that day (Beaufort County schools do NOT have a spring break or scheduled day off then). And literally NO apology was offered for their late responses or cancellation. Then they had the audacity to say, "We will hopefully be hosting a homeschool day in the fall and look forward to seeing your group then." Why do they think we would trust Don Lee after this?!?The saddest part is that the group has had good experiences in the past (obviously things have severely declined since) and now all of our kids are so sad to have planned on this and then been dropped unceremoniously, not to mention the parents that are now left in limbo.Very unprofessional all around.
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October 2022 by Cody Hammond
Great place really fun place food was really good but like the kayaking u can’t go far at all but really awesome camp
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July 2022 by Zachary Davis
The greatest summer camp in the country. A feeling of peace and freedom falls upon you the moment you arrive. The wind off the river, the splash of the waves, the best food you'll ever have. The best place to get away from the fast-paced world.
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October 2021 by MJones1812
We went yesterday with our daughters middle school trip. It was outstanding!!!! The view of the compound was peaceful and instantly had me hooked. The camp was really clean and the staff was phenomenal. They were pleasant and had a really smooth operation in place. Our counselor/guide Brittany, was outstanding as well. She was very patient with the kids and did a great job of keeping the kids focused and the overall flow of the day. I must also say, the lunch was waaaay beyond expectation. I’m not sure who prepared that meal but it was probably one of the best “away from home” meals I’ve ever had. We were the last to go through the lunch line and the food was still piping hot and fresh. The chicken was juicy and very flavorful. The cornbread, macaroni and cheese and beans were mouth watering. I also loved the touch of the delicious brownie and sweet tea?. To keep my review “short”, this place is awesome and I highly recommend and would return!
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September 2021 by Jon Branham
the place God has blessed!
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July 2021 by A_ Zuma
staff were super responsible and cared for my sons autistic needs.
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December 2020 by Gayle Midyette
Staff is so friendly and knowledgeable.
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December 2020 by Jon Strother
Camp Don Lee has an outstanding staff who practice hospitality at the highest level. The setting is beautiful, well-maintained and signs of newness are across the campus. I highly recommend this as a destination
