Camp Shane

Karin

They did not take good care of my daughter. She was injured and went to hospital. They said her concussion was an over reaction and NEVER CALLED US!!!! also after daughter called and we came and got her they would not reimburse for 2 weeks missed

posted Aug 29th, 2016 1:31 pm

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Rosana Melendez

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There is no medical attention, the camp is being run by teenagers. These young campers are not allowed to carry their cellphone so in case of an emergency you have no way to get in contact with your child. My child was seriously hurt at this camp after being there only a few days. I have not received a refund, after a year, nor an apology.

posted May 15th, 2015 3:30 pm

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Debra Vance

Dearest Jullian. I am writing in an effort to find some assistance for my daughter to attend Shane Camp. I am a single mother or four and to be honest the economy is very unstable. I have really had difficulties with just trying to maintain the basis necessity for my children like food, rent, clothing etc. This is a plea asking you to assist my daughter with getting into the camp, im affraid if she doest get the weight off of her she will not live long. She is 16 and weights about 310 pounds. Please help and email me as soon as possible. Thank you and I look foward to hearing from you.

posted Mar 24th, 2014 12:54 pm

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Macara

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i luv camp shane. i lost about 12 pounds and i was about 92 pounds my mama was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy about it!

posted May 20th, 2012 12:35 pm

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Nanci Dallas

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dear jillian i poor as hell as i know my daughter hanna is goona die if she dont get to camp shane i had 5 brain surgies on my brain i can barely talk now i have 27 mini strokes and 1 big one thats when i lost all the oxygen i have a rare a rare brain disease called moyamoya and we are up are butts with bills so if there any way you could help tosend hanna to shane camp we would really appreciate. thanks jillian love

posted Apr 21st, 2011 4:36 am

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Nanci Dallas

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Hi Jillian my name is nanci dallas i really need your help my daughter hanna is extrmely over weight i want to send her to camp shane in calfornia but i cant afford it now cause i have a rare brain disease called moyamoya i have hospital bills coming butt i mean that to hanna weight 230lb and she is only 14yrs old please help me! Thank you Nanci M Dallas......

posted Apr 21st, 2011 4:35 am

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Marko

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I was looking for a camp for my son and came across Camp Network . There are tons of cool search tools, but I liked the interactive map where you could just click on a state- in my case Florida, and see a list of camps in the area. Great way to make sure your looking at all the options.

posted Mar 29th, 2011 6:07 pm

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kelly

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I worked @ Camp Shane the summer of 1998 as a counselor & tennis instructor. It was one of the best summers I have ever had. I enjoyed my campers and the other counselors. Yes, some kids would get homesick or not want to participate, but on a whole the kids enjoyed it and made wonderful friends. Most of them had great experiences and were returning campers. I remember when everyone was leaving, there was a lot of sadness for the summer to be over. I would recommend Camp Shane. I would be willing to take my own children there, if need be. Everyone has different experiences, but I think it has a lot to do with what you're willing to put into it, what you get out of it.

posted Jun 29th, 2010 3:31 pm

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Jen

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Camp Shane is absolutely horrible. Between Camp Shane and Tony Sparber's camp, the camp owners are out for one thing and one thing only: money. They don't care whatsoever about your child or their weight loss. Of COURSE your kid is going to come home thinner, because these camps put them on strict diets and wear them out like no other. I was a camper at Tony Sparber's camps as well as a counselor, and I have to say.. they simply don't care. There's a reason why 95% of the campers who return home immediately GAIN ALL OF THE WEIGHT BACK (including myself). And the reason is this: they don't teach children how to maintain their weight loss, they don't teach them how to be healthy AFTER camp and on their own. Camp Shane, Camp Vanguard, and Camp Pocono are rip offs. They treat their staff like crap and the directors are lunatics (especially at Camp Vanguard, one of Tony Sparber's camps. The director's name is Max - a conniving woman with the worst intentions). These camps DO NOT WORK. If you want a REAL weight loss camp that is WORTH the money and will have your child keep the weight off, look into the Wellspring camps (there's a bunch of them across the country) and they are the MOST successful camp to date. DO NOT send your child to Camp Shame or any one of Tony Sparber's camps. They will regret it.

posted Jun 1st, 2010 11:45 am

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Cynthia

I am so surprised by the comments I am reading. I sent my daughter to Camp Shane for 4 years. Her staff were so great, patient and really sweet with my over sensitive child. Her second summer there she managed to reach her goal weight and kept it off. She kept returning because she wanted to be there with her friends and continue having fun. They run their camp like a traditional camp so my daughter loves going for all the activities.

She always talked about how amazing the food was at camp. It is true that they served Chicken Nuggets but that was one of my daughters favourite meals at camp. I myself met with their Doctor who is a Dr in pediatric Obesity and overlooks their entire menu. It worked. The camp gave my daughter her life back. She lost weight, has maintained it. She in NO WAY starved at Camp nor at home however she has a better perspective on what portion control is whereas before she would eat and eat and still eat. She on her own now makes healthier choices. She even taught us at home and I myself as a parent lost 20 lbs.

My daughter never used to be active nor participated in any sport..EVER! She was too scared to be laughed at or to simply NOT be picked!! She became the captain of the Baseball team at camp. She learnt to love the sport and to have fun with it. This year she joined a travelling Baseball team and has excelled at the sport ever since. I am happy that Camp gave her the opportunity to find active sports that she could excel at rather than have her sit at home in front of the TV or playing video games.

The nutritionist that educated my child had graduated and each had a degree in nutrition. Still today they call my home to follow up on Lyndsey to make sure she is still on track and doing well.

I am sorry for your bad experience, however I can only rant and rave about mine.Camp Shane changed my daughters life and it changed ours as a family.

I would recommend Camp Shane to anyone. Many of Lyndsey's friend still attend the camp and love it as well. Thank you Camp Shane and all its dedicated staff...The disgruntled ones can go..I would not want them around my daughter anyways!!!!

posted Feb 16th, 2010 2:05 pm

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Nicolle

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This camp is garbage. I didn't realize that when I was looking at camps, they all make them selves look great and hide their flaws away (I was young and naive) They glamourize this and Tony Sparber's New Image Camps on T.V. The only real, helpful, good weight loss camp out there in my opinion is Ira Green's Camp Shining Stars because they lay the foundation to lead a healthy lifestyle. Kids that go here may loose 60lbs in a summer from starvation, but they gain it all back and more, starting the week they return home! I liked CSS b/c i lost weight I was able to keep off (28lbs in three weeks, with an 1800-2000 calorie per day diet of great food). Oh another thing is that this camp doesn't offer real "vegetarian" options. If you complain about not eating a meal with meat in it, they give you PBJ, everytime as the alternative! They don't care about they kids, just the money. I would think twice about sending anyone here or to Pocono!

posted Jan 5th, 2010 12:15 am

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liz

I couldn't agree with you more. I only wish that this horrific excuse of a camp was exposed for what it truly is. They are filming for the Tyra Banks Show right now and I really would appreciate it if you could say some of what you said online or try to get this out there. I know i am doing my part I had t leave earlier than expected because I got sick off the food and I was also a counselor and hated it.

posted Jul 18th, 2009 7:48 am

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Andres

Isabelle stop being a big pansy....

I went to camp winthers and don't be all testy because thet don't promote a "normal" body size....let me guess you're "normal"...News flash "normal" is not chubby or thick. Thin is normal...go look at a postcard of your average kid ANYWHERE else in the world!

Sincerely,
Andres
former camper current and always
Sgt. of Marines

posted Apr 8th, 2009 11:09 am

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isabelle brown

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FIrst off i'll start off by saying I was a camper at shane...for two years 04+05. I truly loved it. Which is why i decided to go back as a counselor. However that is where the fun ended. As a camper I only saw things that were going on within my cabin and since my cabin was full of returners, it was only right that they loved this place. As a counselor in 08 I saw all the things that was wrong with this place
Nutrition:

LACK THERE OF. yes your kids will lose weight, but its by mere starvation. There is really no emphasis on healthy food eating, just on extreme calortic restriction. An example of 3 meals for the day is for breakfast, cereal and canned fruit. For lunch like 5 chicken nuggets on salad (which had sometimes gone bad) and for dinner we were served FRIED FISH!!! sounds ridiculous because it is.

They claim to teach the kids about nutrition, by certified nutritionist, but those nutritionist for the most part were college students who are studying nutrition...hardly certified. In these nutrition classes the girls would just obsess about thier weight, many of them were
'normal' sized. And even if they were overweight, obsession about weight isn't healthy either.

Activities:
These kids were basically overworked all summer, but obviously since its a weight loss camp this is to be expected. The only problem with this is the lack substance to keep them active throughout the day. And a couple of days were just too hot to have kids running outside the way they did but activities weren't cancelled.

Night Activies:
I'll discuss one specific event that resounded in my mind. Camp is in the mountains so its hot during the days and freezing at night. for colour war, it was one of the camp programmers bright idea to have the kids jump into the pool to find a ping pong ball with their name on it. they were basically required to participate. I had 9 and 10 year old girls crying because they did not want to jump in a pool of freezing water...Neither would I.

Counselors and Pay:
Most of these counselors have no experience with kids, many of them are returning campers who return to hang out with thier friends for the summer. I myself had my interview waived because I was a retunring cmaper...many people who probably should not be working with kids are hired. Counselors were fired left and right, some times for substantial reasons, like smoking pot on camp or being drunk. But others not so much. There was a counselor who was fired with out any real reason and she was basically given 20 minutes to pack all her things and have her parents come pick her up, when she lived 3 hours away. There was one counselor WHO WASN'T FIRED after she was found with an open bottle of vodka in her bunk with the girls. She was kept because her boyfriend pleaded with the camp owners. That is not okay to me. In terms of pay, lots of counselors have had their tips "lost" by the camp since we were required to have them hold it until the end of summer. COunselors wou were fired got a ridiculously low percentage of pay for what they worked for in the summer. And they were not given the tips which they earned.

A couple of kids had thier parents working at camp, and because of this they were given special treatment. They were allowd to sit out of activities and were given extra food in front of the other kids. This is just unfair to the kids who are being starved basically.

All in all, I wouldn't reccomend working there, and I would definately think twice before sending my children there. A very unhealthy body image is fostered i mean there motto is "happiness is taking off". While being overweight is obvisouly unhealthy... you don't need to be stick thin to be happy either.

Think twice and do your research....I had a really bad summer in terms of working with the heads of camp...I'm choosing not to include these events because I want this review to be as objective as possible...howeever I will say 4 months later I'm still having legitimate nightmares about my time spent there.

posted Jan 23rd, 2009 2:26 pm

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