A youth smiles while reaching the top of Tower #68 on June 11, 2025, during Quest Camp 1 for seventh and eighth graders at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in Bowling Green. RILEY GREIF | WKC
You’re invited to become a Friend of Gasper River
BY BEN WARRELL, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Hello Diocese of Owensboro! We need your help!
Each year, we try our hardest to keep camp affordable for our camp families and for our retreat guests at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in Bowling Green. Each year, this gets more and more difficult with rising operating costs and the fact that camp continues to grow and grow each summer and retreat season. We are a rural mission diocese and our costs for camp are less than half the national average for a weeklong camp experience. Even with lower camp fees, many families struggle to pay, and each year our camper scholarship fund is almost completely depleted. As a result, we have created the Friends of Gasper River program to help us defray our operating costs.
The Friends of Gasper River program is simply asking you to prayerfully consider a monthly donation to camp. We ask that if you are able, please go to our website, www.gasperriverretreatcenter.org and click on the donate button, and give $30 a month to camp. If you are able to give more, please know that is welcome as well. If you can only afford a few dollars a month, please feel free to give what you can as each and every dollar will help us continue to offer young people the opportunity to encounter the risen Jesus Christ and go out into the world to make a difference for God!
In 19 years of summer camp and 20 years of retreats, the Holy Spirit has changed the lives of countless people here at Gasper River. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life happen almost every year. Marriages and stronger families are also the result of the ministry at camp.
In fact, since we’ve reopened after Covid, we have had at least one family join the Catholic Church because of their child’s experience at camp! Many teachers in our Catholic schools are former summer staffers and campers as are several youth ministers and directors of religious education in our parishes. It’s not just the Diocese of Owensboro but surrounding dioceses and all throughout the country. Several former staffers are working at Catholic camps around the country while others are working for national Catholic organizations such as FOCUS and NET. The fruit from this holy place has been abundant and it continues to grow each year!
Please prayerfully consider joining the Friends of Gasper River program to support the wonderful and life-changing ministry that is happening here at camp.
Every gift given will have an immense impact on a young person. Thank you all so much for all your prayers and support of Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center over the years and for all that you will do for us in the future.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office at (270) 781-2466. In this New Year, let us give generously and allow the Holy Spirit to work through your kindness!
Ben Warrell is the director of Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in Bowling Green.
Originally printed in the January 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
