Our Story
Our Mission is to create experiences for campers to
connect with God, nature and each other… Equipping them in spiritual formation, servant leadership and unplugged, unhurried living.
Values That Guide Us
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Christian discipleship.
Our faith is at the forefront of all we do—intentionally planting seeds and encouraging kids to explore and strengthen their personal relationship with God.
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Wilderness-centered.
Nestled in nature along a creek and sitting adjacent to the Hemlock Falls trailhead in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we are surrounded by wilderness. From shelter building and fire building to woodworking, we offer a true nature-based camp experience.
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Rustic simplicity.
We offer our campers “everything you need, nothing that you don’t”—leaving out the bells and whistles and offering a simple, creative camp experience without all the extras. We believe that God’s creation speaks for itself without the need to add to it.
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Character over achievement.
Kids compete at school, church, sports and even with their family members. We offer an opportunity to turn the focus from winning or losing to building self-confidence and helping them understand who they are in Christ.
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Good, old-fashioned fun.
We offer some incredibly creative traditions, activities and theme days at camp, and we simply love to delight our campers and cultivate moments of true, unhindered joy.
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Intentionally small.
We believe that smaller numbers foster deeper relationships. Everyone is unconditionally welcomed, known and treated like family.
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Family founded & family operated.
We are still operated by members of our founding family today and like our namesake tree, we remain strongly rooted in our original purpose and mission.
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Summer camp is for everyone.
Each summer we dedicate three weeks to serving economically-disadvantaged kids from the counties surrounding camp and from Atlanta—at no cost to their families. We firmly believe in offering the same camp experience to all of our campers, regardless of background or economic situation.
Meet Katie & Toby
CAMP LEADERSHIP
Katie Grady, Camp Director, and Toby Grady, Camp Pastor, have served together as Camp Evergreen leadership since 2002. Both are natives of Atlanta and graduates of Westminster and Milton High School respectively. After attending Duke University and earning a Masters Degree at the University of Georgia, and while engaged to Toby, Katie accepted the position of summer camp director for one summer in 1999—the camp's first year of operation—at the request of her parents, camp founders Bob and Jeanie Cook. Though she never planned to run a summer camp, it was clear that God was calling her to the ministry. The Gradys returned to Camp Evergreen in 2002 and have been a part of the Camp Evergreen ministry ever since!
After 10 years of campus ministry at Appalachian State University during the school year and serving at camp each summer, Toby, Katie and their three children moved to Georgia, just 30 minutes from camp. Toby then finished his Doctor of Ministry program and now teaches at Toccoa Falls College.
Through the school and serving as part-time staff at their local church, both Toby and Katie continue to disciple young adults—many of whom work at camp—through a weekly meal and Bible study in their home. All three of their children now work at camp as well. The Gradys have a passion for seeing young people find and live out their God-given purpose in life!
STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Megan Smith
Assistant Director
Megan has been at Camp Evergreen since 2018—she first attended as a Counselor that summer and has been serving as the Assistant Director since 2021. Megan is originally from Ellijay, Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia in 2021. She is actively involved in her local church—including being on the worship team since 2013, serving as part of the Foreign Missions Committee and volunteering with the youth group. Megan’s many hobbies include reading, sewing, hiking, and doing anything and everything artsy and craftsy. Camp is one of her favorite places on earth, and she’s incredibly grateful to come back each summer. -
Cindy Barry
Community VolunteerMack Barry
Owner and Contractor, Four Seasons HomesJeanie Cook
Co-Founder, Camp EvergreenRobert Cook
Secretary; Co-Founder, Camp EvergreenEric Glidewell
Partner, Womble, Bond & DickinsonKatie Grady
Executive Director, Camp EvergreenJamie Heiskell
Teacher, Atlanta Classical AcademyMichael Hunter
President, McColgan & CompanyLori Smith
Community VolunteerKelley Stonis
Sports & Recreation Ministry Director, Northside ChurchDavid Sturgess
Owner & Therapist, Foundry Counseling
Lara Lynn Sturgess
Chairman; Community VolunteerKristy Thomson
Treasurer; Chief Operating Officer, HomeTown HealthJean Young
Community VolunteerMark Young
President, Argent Solutions
CAMP EVERGREEN
Our 25-Year History
1999
Vision for Camp Evergreen was Planted
When a couple from Atlanta, Georgia saw an unused, run-down summer camp at Lake Burton, God planted a vision for a summer camp ministry. The property—which had 12 cabins for 70 campers—was available for rent. As the couple, Bob and Jeanie Cook, prayed about the idea, they heard clear confirmation through a daily devotional reading about the journey of God’s people through the wilderness as they paused at a place of refreshing.
“There were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” — Exodus 15:27
In the summer of 1999, Camp Evergreen sowed tiny seeds with big potential. The first summer of camp opened in June 1999 with three family camps.
2000
First Official Summer of Camp
Run by Northside Church in Atlanta as part of their Sports & Recreation Ministry, 2000 was our first summer as an official camp with both family camps and traditional kids’ camps.
Camp ran for only four weeks and our sessions were all five days in length.
That summer, we were also led to begin offering the camp experience to economically disadvantaged campers, and we made the camp available to children and counselors from the Murphy-Harpst Home in Cedartown, Georgia—the birth of our missional focus on scholarship campers.
2002
New Growth
More choices in overnight summer camp and day camp sessions were added, and we began a partnership with Atlanta-based Wilderness Works to provide camp experiences for economically-disadvantaged kids—at no cost to their families.
2004
Leadership Transition
As Camp Evergreen steadily grew, Katie Grady officially became the Camp Director, and Toby Grady became the Camp Pastor in 2004—and they’ve continued to pour their hearts into camp ever since.
2009
New Soil
In 2009, it became clear that Camp Evergreen had outgrown the old property and in order to continue to thrive, we needed to find new soil. Mt. Bethel Church in Marietta was leasing the Camp Winfield property, an expansive camp property on Moccasin Creek established by Levoy and Deann Bell Knight—which is Camp Evergreen’s home today.
We were offered the opportunity to partner with Mt. Bethel, and once again God confirmed this move through scripture.
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” —Isaiah 55:12-13
2018
Establishing Permanent Roots
On January 18, 2018, Camp Evergreen officially purchased the camp property from the owner’s estate after the death of Deann Bell Knight. A capital campaign to retire the property debt concluded in the fall of 2019—God’s way of making Camp Evergreen financially secure as it then weathered the pandemic.
2012
Taking on New Life
Although the partnership with Mt. Bethel came to an end, the Camp Evergreen ministry took on new life beside a stream of living water in the midst of thousands of acres of National Forest. The camp became an independent 501c3 non-profit organization.
Today
Camp Evergreen is Thriving!
Each summer, we offer three sessions of our overnight and day camps, as well as three sessions of scholarship camp. As a family-founded-and-operated camp running 25 years strong, we value our rich history and remain strongly rooted in our original purpose and mission.
MISSIONALLY-FOCUSED
Summer Camp
is For Everyone
Three full sessions each summer are dedicated to offering an amazing camp experience to 180+ economically-disadvantaged children both from Atlanta and from the counties surrounding camp—at no cost to their families.
Why Camp Evergreen?
At Camp Evergreen, kids unplug, build confidence and experience hands-on learning in nature. With Christ-centered values and a close-knit community, we create life-changing experiences that your child will cherish forever.
