San Diego, CA
The Oaks Retreat Center
Friday, October 2 - Sunday, October 4, 2026
California, here we come!
Join us for a weekend mountain getaway at The Oaks as Blue Skies heads west! Nestled on 240 acres in the Ballena Valley and located only an hour outside of San Diego and two hours from Los Angeles, The Oaks is a retreat center to help promote rest and renewal and focuses on community and connections.
beautiful views
Enjoy the modern accommodations, hiking trails, tennis courts, a three story water slide and pool, and the amazing gathering spaces that overlook the mountain vistas. There are also 40 ROCKING CHAIRS - Where you sleep is important, but where you rock is even more! Most of their guests say they would sleep in their oversized, outdoor rocking chairs if they could!
WHAT TO KNOW
where
The Oaks, A Southern California Retreat Center in the Ballena Valley
Address: 27224 HWY 78 Ramona, CA 92065
ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE
Volunteer arrival time: Friday early afternoon
Volunteer departure time: 10:00am PST
COST
Price Per Room: $1100 minimum donation. This covers housing, food, and activities. Rooms vary in bedding sleeping 2-6 per room. All rooms have shared bathrooms. If you have more than 6 people serving in your family, please reach out to julie.h@whereskiesareblue.org about pricing.
Application Fee: $50 (non-refundable; covers background check)
Why is there a cost?
Every Blue Skies camp costs between $50,000 and $75,000 to make happen. Volunteer support typically funds about 25-50% of what it actually costs to host a retreat. If you know of a church, company, or individual who would be willing to help sponsor part of camp to bring hope, that would help immensely! We want families walking through pediatric cancer to experience camp completely free of charge—a place where they can rest, laugh, and reconnect. Your contribution helps make that possible. We work hard to keep volunteer costs as low as we can, and if you need help, we have a limited number of scholarships available. Just ask! If you are coming by yourself and need help finding a roommate to share the cost, let us know!
Fundraising Made Simple
We’ll send you an email with a link to your personal fundraising page and easy instructions to get started. Many volunteers share their page on social media or through email and letters as these are great ways to invite friends and family to join you in making a difference. Plus, it spreads the word about Blue Skies and the hope we bring to families.
Payment Details
Support is due one week before camp. (Check out our cancellation policy for details.)
The Impact of Your Volunteering
When you volunteer, you’re not just helping with meals or activities, you’re giving families a break from cancer. You’re creating space for laughter, rest, and joy during one of the hardest seasons of their lives. Parents get to breathe. Kids get to play. Families get to feel hope again.
Even if you can’t attend, you can still make an impact by sponsoring a volunteer or donating to send a family to camp. Every gift matters. Every act of service changes lives.
Local Volunteers
If you’re a local and live in the community where we host camp, we’d love your help too! You can join us for the week or help out at some of our activities. You’ll need to fill out an application with background check and references. And, we would sure appreciate your support in helping the children with cancer and their families attend at no cost. We can create a fundraising page for you! We ask that everyone who serves for the full camp raise or give $300/individual or $500/family.
schedule
Here’s our projected schedule:
FRIDAY
Volunteer Orientation
Guest Checkin
Camp WELCOME!
Dinner
S’mores around the campfire!
Volunteer Gathering
sATURDAY
Breakfast Prep
Breakfast
Good Morning Blue Skies (Chapel)
Kindred Journeys (Parent Group)/Soaring (Kid’s Activities)
Lunch
Swimming; Tennis; Pickleball; Games; Crafts
Dinner
Sunset Hayride
S’mores around the campfire!
Volunteer Gathering
sUNDAY
Breakfast Prep
Breakfast
Benediction
your role
Get ready for a weekend packed with fun mixed with relaxation combined with meeting so many new friends! We will have worship and teachings and enjoy the great outdoors. We’ll spend time connecting with our team and the families we are serving to share with one another the hope and joy Jesus brings.
housing
Volunteers and guests will stay in varied lodging on the property from bunkhouses to cottages. Your room assignments will be given at check-in. The property was once a student camp and they have transformed it into a beautiful adult retreat center. Only the guest families will have their own bathrooms. All other rooming shares a bathroom with at least one other person/family. The bunk rooms share bathrooms (men/women).
travel
San Diego International Airport is about an hour from The Oaks. Please let us know your travel plans. If you are flying in, Lyft and Uber are not readily available to get from The Oaks back to the airport. We are happy to try to help with transportation if possible.
guidelines
Please review our guidelines for volunteering at camp by clicking HERE. We ask all volunteers to abide by these guidelines to ensure we all have an incredible week together!
podcast
Click here to hear Melinda’s heart behind the ministry and the hope Blue Skies brought to the Dryden family as they join Christy Nockels on her podcast!
Click here to listen to our very own podcast, Above the Clouds, full of lots of stories of hope from Blue Skies retreats!
volunteer manual
Click here to view our volunteer manual with lots of helpful information!
Guest family welcome letter
Click here to read a welcome from Melinda to our guest families to learn more about Blue Skies!
Cancellation Policy
If for some reason you are unable to attend once your application has been accepted, you are required to raise/give the full amount of volunteer support due to find another volunteer/volunteer family (approved) to take your spot.