I feel like I’ve been trapped in a cage and finally let out. It’s freedom!
Abby, Camp Blue Spruce camper
August 14-19, 2025
Registration for summer camp 2025 will open January 1st, 2025 at noon, please contact registrar@campbluespruce.org if you have any questions. Thank you.
Campers:
Kids entering 4th through 12th grades can be campers! See below for more camp details.
Vaccines for COVID-19 are required.
Camp Blue Spruce is dedicated to providing an authentic and fun overnight camp experience for children with food allergies. By creating an environment free from the top-9 food allergens plus all gluten with qualified medical staff on site, campers feel safe and are released from the worry and anxiety they face daily while navigating their allergies. Even the camper’s parents can be worry free!
Camp Blue Spruce families become part of a community of people who share a common experience. Camp Blue Spruce campers leave feeling more confident and independent. Many become more accepting of their food allergies, and they all realize they are not alone.
Camp is open to kids and teens with food allergies, celiac disease, and other related conditions. (See below for more information.)
Resources for Overnight Camp
Camp Life
Located on 490 scenic acres around Panhandle Lake, Panhandle 4-H Camp welcomed us as their hosts for the 2025 camp season. This wonderful facility located in Shelton, Washington, features a variety of fun activities, including hiking trails and a glistening lake perfect for canoeing and swimming.
Food
Our camp is free of the foods that cause more than 90% of allergic reactions, including dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, gluten, and sesame. Eating is one of the main activities at Camp Blue Spruce! The food at Camp Blue Spruce is delicious, healthy, and top-9 allergen-free.
Health House
Some of Oregon’s leading allergy doctors provide medical advice for Camp Blue Spruce.
Elite Cleaning Team
Before camp begins, a dedicated crew of allergy-aware people implements a multi-pronged cleaning protocol. They scrub and sanitize the kitchen, dining facilities and all the common areas at camp, including the art room, cabins, and gym and gym equipment. Camp Blue Spruce brings its own kitchen equipment, including cutting boards, pots and pans, knives, and mixers to ensure that everything is safe. If you would like to join the Elite Cleaning Team, please sign up to volunteer!
Cost of Camp
Camp tuition covers approximately 60% of the cost of running Camp Blue Spruce’s overnight camp and its year-round programs and these costs continue to increase significantly. Offering a worry free, Top 9 allergen free summer camp experience to children with life threatening food allergies requires some special help. Over the last few years, we’ve added more paid staffing to support camp programming, and this year, we’re hiring additional professional kitchen staff to deliver delicious, safe food to all our campers.
We are excited to be lowering the cost of camp for the 2025 season! We remain as ever focused on making Camp Blue Spruce the place where your allergy camper feels safe and knows that they’ve found a community of people who understand what it means to go through life with food allergies.
Thanks to our generous donors, we offer financial assistance so that camp is accessible for most families. Please complete the Financial Assistance form if you are in need of a reduced rate.
Camp Deposit: $150 – Everyone, including campers receiving financial assistance, must pay the deposit to reserve a bunk. Please reach out to us if you would like to set up a payment plan. registrar@campbluespruce.org
Tuition for Campers (4th-12th grade):
$1,100
Financial Assistance – Camp Blue Spruce and the DeMerell Campership Fund are happy to offer financial assistance to families who want to attend camp but cannot afford the full tuition. Learn more about the Dan DeMerell Financial Assistance Fund.
Sibling Discount – Sibling Discount – $50 – Sibling discounts are available to the second camper from the same
family. This discount will be taken out of the tuition balance.
If you have any questions about camp, please reach out! Allergy parents are not used to sending their kids to camp, and we understand. You can reach us at registrar@campbluespruce.org.
Camp Blue Spruce grants you permission to access and view the Digital Content titled Tastes Like Freedom for personal, non-commercial, private use. For more information about video use, click here.
Tastes Like Freedom, a documentary film, is the remarkable story of Camp Blue Spruce and its campers. This intimate portrayal reveals the social and emotional challenges of living with food allergies and the freedom these kids experience at camp.
Written and directed by Eric Stachon of Leftcoast Media, produced by Tara Johnson-Medinger and edited by Emily von W. Gilbert.