Mail Call!

Campers love getting mail! Send your camper a message during their session in the mail or with a BunkNote online or on our app!

Camper Mail
EMAIL A STAFF MEMBER

camper mail guidelines

Campers can receive mail at afternoon Canteen on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday (two-week sessions only). Bunk Notes will be printed and mail will be sorted at 11:00 a.m on each mail day. Any mail or Bunk Notes received after 11:00 a.m. will be delivered the following mail day. Mail won’t be delivered during outcamping (the first Thursday and Friday of two week sessions).

We recognize that campers enjoy receiving mail from home while at camp and want to continue to facilitate the “mail call” experience in a beneficial way that doesn’t distract or take away from the overall camp experience. Please follow these guidelines to help make this possible.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind as you send Bunk Notes:

  • Campers can receive letters, cards, and emails during their camp session.
  • Campers cannot reply to Bunk Notes. Your messages are simply for their enjoyment and encouragement.
  • Please do not send anything larger than a 9 x 12 envelope.
  • All letters and cards must be sent through the mail.
  • Please note your camper’s name and cabin in the address of the letter.
  • Inappropriate, abusive, or prank Bunk Notes will not be delivered. Please send meaningful correspondence.
  • Send mail and emails that are uplifting, encouraging, and beneficial to your child’s experience.

 

Note: For emergencies, please call the Camp Office directly.

Bunk Notes

Send your camper a Bunk Note with our Camp Deer Run mobile app or at the link below!

 

Bunk notes will be printed on Mail Days at 11:00 am. Bunk Notes received after 11:00 am will be printed for the next Mail Day. 

Send a bunk note
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Send a letter

If you want to send your camper a letter in the mail, please be sure to post the letter with plenty of time. Even local mail can take two or more days to arrive! We are unable to deliver mail  that is received after a camper's session has ended. Please address envelopes as shown here:

drop off letters

This summer, we will be allowing parents to drop off letters for their camper at Check-In to be delivered on Mail Days throughout the session. If you'd like to drop off pre-written letters, please place them in sealed envelopes addressed as shown in the example. No stamp is necessary. Drop off letters must follow all of the same guidelines as mailed letters.

Email a staff member!

This form is NOT for camper mail. For camper mail please click here.

Want to send a note to your favorite staff member? Good news! You can send any staff member a message to be delivered at Mail Call with our Email a Staff Member form. Please keep all messages appropriate and encouraging. The Staff are hard at work serving our campers and love to hear from family, friends, and campers, but please also remember that they are in a uniquely secluded and safe environment where they can focus on their mission without distraction. We ask that you keep that in mind when you write your message, and not include anything that might distract or detract from their mission of serving God at Camp Deer Run!

Write to the Staff!

Day 1 - God Comes First

SCRIPTURE:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-6


DEVOTIONAL:

This is a verse that we hear often. It’s a common memory verse. It’s the basis for countless worship songs and hymns. It strikes at the core of all Christian faith and life. These words come from Moses, as He speaks to the Israelites before their entry into the Promised Land. Behind them, there has been a long journey – from slavery to freedom a promise of a land of their own that is very good. But along that journey there has been temptation, and the Israelites have time and time again lost sight of their covenant with God and forgotten the salvation that He delivered to them. Because of that, they spent 40 years wandering in the desert instead of going straight to the new homeland that God had promised.


It’s a lesson to all of us that when we lose sight of God, when we forget about Him and His Word, when our focus drifts away from Him, we end up wandering in a desert instead of enjoying the good things He intended for us.


At Camp Deer Run, we leave behind many of the things in our day to day lives that distract us from God. We leave behind the phones, the TVs, the social media, the stress of school or work, the trials and struggles that we carry with us. When you step through the gates as your session begins, you can leave all of it behind you and just focus on God, pure and simple.
When we set those burdens down, and remove all the distractions that are keeping us from seeing God clearly and putting Him first in our lives, we come closer to Him, we grow deeper in our relationship with Him, we feel His love. And when we know His love for us and understand that we are His beloved children, our love for Him grows too.


But Camp doesn’t have some kind of magic forcefield around it that makes you leave your worries at the door. It’s definitely easier at Camp to leave those things behind. There’s so much fun to be had, so much nature to enjoy, and so many friends to surround you. But at the end of the day, it’s still up to you to let go of the things that distract you from God and to put Him first. Sometimes that’s hard to do, and sometimes it takes a little while to figure it out. That’s ok!


As you prepare for Camp, we just want you to know that God wants to have a relationship with you. God knows you. God loves you. And He wants you to keep your focus on Him, because He doesn’t want you to be lost in the desert. He wants to lead you to the Promised Land!

 

DISCUSSION:


What are some of the things that make it hardest for you to focus on God at home?


Can you leave that behind when you go to Camp? How?


Camp Deer Run is all about seeing God in everything, not just worship or Bible lessons, but in the games and activities and friends and fun. How do you keep your focus on God in all of these different situations?