Frost Valley YMCA — Local services in Town of Denning

We entrusted Frost Valley YMCA with the care and summer experience of our 13-year-old son — and our trust was profoundly broken.

Without any formal investigation, without giving our son a chance to explain himself, and without involving us — his parents — the camp abruptly expelled him based on a misunderstanding of a game between children. The incident involved peers joking in a group setting under the informal supervision of a 17-year-old counselor. No child or parent filed a written complaint. The children remained friends after the situation.

Our son was isolated in his room for hours until we arrived to pick him up — confused, scared, and emotionally hurt. The language used by the camp was harsh, excessive, and damaging — labels like “racism” and “slave play” were assigned to a child without context, due process, or factual basis.

We were not given the chance to participate in a meeting, phone call, or any reasonable process to understand or discuss the incident. The decision had already been made. It wasn’t about safety — it was about control, bias, and a complete disregard for the rights and dignity of a minor.

Frost Valley YMCA may be one of the oldest camps in the country — but that does not give them the right to act without transparency, accountability, or compassion. What happened to our son was not a mistake. It was a failure in leadership, ethics, and responsibility.

Parents deserve to know that this camp can remove your child without warning, without fairness, and without even listening. This experience deeply hurt our family and destroyed what should have been a beautiful summer for our child.

We gave the camp every opportunity to correct this privately. They chose silence. Now we choose...

Absolutely the worst experience!!! My Son came to the camp as a Kidney Transplant patient. He has bathroom issues from his illnesses. This was noted on every single form not just from myself but also from his Dr. The campus promoted to meet kids like himself…. Not the case at all! He was put into a cabin with “regular” kids. By day 3 he was sent home from the camp because his issue could cause the other kids to make fun of him. The night before they sent him home he had stayed in the medical center. The day they sent him home they didn’t allow him to collect his stuff from the cabin, workers collected what they thought was his and sent him home with it. When he got home and we went through his stuff at least half of his belongings were missing. I contacted the director who was supposed to contact me after they gathered his belongings. I never heard back… I sent a follow up email to which she told me that his stuff was found and at the welcome center. Three hour and 45 min. Trips to the camp to get his stuff and the welcome center was closed every time. I arrive today and they tell me that his stuff was here and now it’s not… they don’t know where it is and they can’t find it! They are completely disorganized sending me camp dates for the first sessions then telling us when we arrived we were suppose to be third session but let him stay because we were already here…. Not only do they mislead the camp as a kidney camp they also don’t exactly know what safe for kidney kids and what’s not including letting them swim in lakes which is dangerous because they are immunocompromised and can get sick from parasites, etc. in the water. They also allowed my Son to play contact type sports which...

I had a terrible experience with Frost Valley YMCA's summer camp. My daughter attended sessions there, and the camp failed to provide any information in their family handbook about the risks of ticks and Lyme disease in the area, especially important for families unfamiliar with the region. During an overnight camping trip in thunderstorms, no preventive measures like tick repellents were encouraged or provided, leading to my daughter getting bitten and contracting Lyme disease. The staff didn't notify me about the initial tick bite, missing a critical window for early treatment. When symptoms appeared, there were significant delays in getting her medical attention, including a long wait to see a nurse and further delays in urgent care. Medication wasn't administered promptly, and the camp refused to refund unattended sessions despite a doctor's advice against continuing in the area. I felt the health and safety protocols were inadequate, and management showed little empathy. I wouldn't recommend this camp to other parents!

When requesting a partial refund for unattended sessions due to medical issues caused at camp, management showed no empathy or accountability. The CEO sends weekly invitations for Manhattan office breakfasts (likely for donations) while remaining disconnected from serious operational failures at the actual camp.

International families especially: please research tick/Lyme disease risks before considering this camp. We...