Since its founding in Dickens County in 2000, CrossView Camp has welcomed troubled youth for summer residential camp sessions each June and July. It’s one of the few such Christian camps in the country that provides scholarships to a majority of its campers, said development director Kassi Appleton. But as with so many activities, the Covid-19 pandemic threw a wrench in plans and prevented the usual range of participation for the past two years.
This spring’s Festival of Tables fundraiser—the camp’s major source of donations—is returning to full capacity, with a catered lunch, a loaded silent auction, door prizes, themed entertainment, fellowship, and fun.
“Festival of Tables is CrossView's largest fundraiser and is such an amazing community event,” said Appleton. The event has been held annually since 2014 with one year missed, in 2020. This year, it takes place next Saturday at the Turkey Church of Christ, with all tables already full.
The camp was founded by Greg and Dionne McCowen, Appleton said, “for the purpose of spreading the life-changing truth of the Gospel to the atrisk kids of West Texas.” Greg approached a local rancher with the vision of starting a Christian camp for at-risk kids, and the Barron family donated 235 acres of land with eight existing buildings to be used toward this purpose. The camp and its office are located three miles west of Dickens, Texas, approximately 60 miles east of Lubbock on Highway 114.
In addition to cabins, dining hall and pavilion, facilites include ropes courses, swimming pool, and pond. Outdoor ctivites range from swimming, canoeing and fishing to hayride trailer rides, crafts, archery, riflery, disc golf, and hiking, and even paintball. Bible study, worship, and fellowship events are central features of programming.
Appleton described the CrossView experience as “all the elements of top quality Christian camping with the Good News of Jesus Christ and an on-going mentoring program to effect real and lasting change in the lives of troubled youth.”
While the full cost of a week at summer camp for 2022 is $337 per camper, those who qualify for a scholarship pay only $15. Camp for 2022 will run June through July, with a Leadership Camp at the end of the summer for older teenagers and young adults interested in CrossView's ministry.
Appleton and her husband, Seth, trained under former directors P.J. and Jennifer Schmidt in the summer of 2019 but took over right before the Covid pandemic in 2020. After facing challenges and cancellations, including reduced fund-raising efforts during the pandemic, they hope host 6 full weeks of camp once again.
Seth Appleton was himself a camper every summer since age eight. “CrossView’s ministry made such a huge impact on his life that it was his dream to continue the work, said Kassi Appleton.
She feels that the most impactful stories are those of youth “who come out here from juvenile detention centers or residential treatment facilities and they don't even want to get out of the car. They have a wall built up around them, they are scared and anxious and defiant...but by the end of the week they don't want to leave. They feel loved and safe and they have learned about Jesus. These kids do a complete 180 in 4 or 5 days and it is miraculous to witness.”
Crossview Christian Camp Festival of Tables, the organization’s biggest annual fundraiser, is slated for Saturday, March 26 at the Turkey Chruch of Christ in Turkey, Texas, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event features a catered lunch with entertainment, silent auction and door prizes, with a 2022 theme of “Royal Circus.” Although the event is sold out at this point, donations are always appreciated. Contact Kassi Appleton at (806) 928-1659 or kassi@crossviewcamp.org for more information.
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