By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia
Parades lined the streets and bright yellow ribbons adorned oak
trees when Georgia’s 48th Infantry Brigade returned
home this month.
As these families celebrated, others still wait for loved ones to
come home, and they continue to adjust to daily life without
them.
With these families in mind, Georgia 4-H is offering two programs
through Operation Military Kids, an organization for children whose
parents are, or have been, deployed.
Camp for military kids
The first is “Operation 4-H: Joint Forces at the Falls,” a week of
4-H camp designed just for military kids. The camp is funded by a
grant from the National 4-H headquarters, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, U.S. Army Child and Youth Services, U.S. Air Force
Family Member Programs and the UGA Colleges of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences and Family and Consumer Sciences.
Set for July 17-21 at Wahsega 4-H Center in Dahlonega, Ga., the
camp costs campers just $25 for the week. It’s open to youth ages
11 – 13 whose parent(s) are currently deployed, soon to be deployed
or have recently returned from deployment by the National Guard,
Air Guard, Army Reserve or any active duty branch of service.
“This camp will especially benefit children of parents who are
what
we call ‘suddenly military,’” said Mandy Marable, UGA Extension and
State Military Liaison. “Suddenly military kids are those who,
prior to this experience, have never experienced their guard or
reserve parent being deployed. While our focus is heavily guard and
reserve, we are opening the camp to any young person who has had a
parent deployed.”
In the past, these children’s parents have been soldiers who serve
their country by spending one weekend a month or one training week
each summer away from home, Marable said.
This is the second year the military kids camp will be held in
north Georgia. Houston County Extension, under the direction of
county Extension agent Peggy Bledsoe, previously offered a similar
camp experience for two years.
Hero thank you packs
Hero Packs, the second OMK program, is a service-learning project
that pairs Georgia 4-H’ers with military kids across the state.
“Hero Packs are care packages made to thank and salute children
with deployed parents for their sacrifices and contributions while
their parent is deployed in the service of our country,” Marable
said.
Hero Packs is a joint project between Georgia 4-H and the Boys
&
Girls Clubs of Georgia. Together the organizations will distribute
900 backpacks across the state.
A Hero Pack is a backpack filled with a variety of items ranging
from disposable cameras, journals and pens to 4-H teddy bears and
bandanas. The packs also include coping and adjustment material for
the student to share with their parent.
Georgia 4-Hers also made 900 friendship bracelets to include
in the
Hero Packs. And they wrote personal thank you letters to include,
too.
“One junior 4-Her wrote 50 letters,” Marable said. “He felt
connected to the project and other military kids because his father
is deployed.”
Marable says 4-H agents across the state are distributing half of
the Hero Packs on behalf of Georgia 4-H.
“The 4-H agents know the military families in their
communities and
can give a face to the project,” she said. “Of course, each student
who attends the Operation Joint Forces at the Falls camp will get
a hero pack. Our goal is for these projects to help military kids
in our state cope with the adjustments they are going through.”
For more information on either project, contact Georgia 4-H at
706-542-4H4H (4444).
