News Release
For Immediate Release — July 8, 2009
Operation Military Kids Gives Children of Troops
the 4-H Camp Experience
Day camps offered this month in Crossville, Martin, and Greeneville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When your Mom or Dad is stationed overseas in a war zone, the heartache and worry can be especially tough for kids.
Tennessee 4-H is doing something special this month to help these children. If anyone deserves a great summer, it’s them.
“Operation Military Kids 4-H Fun Day” is a one-day visit to a Tennessee 4-H camp. The event is free to youth in grades 4 - 12 who are children of an adult in any branch of the military service who is currently deployed, will be deployed in the future, or who has been deployed in the past.
4-H leaders ask that a supervising adult attend the day camp with the child.
4-H’er Cannon Burchett from Washington County knows how tough it can be to say good-bye to a parent off to war. His dad is with the 733rd Engineering Unit (The Mustangs) of the Army Reserves, and just recently returned home after several months in Iraq.
For Cannon, “OMK” camp is a reminder that other kids know what he’s been through.
“Getting to come to this camp gives me the opportunity to meet other kids dealing with deployment,” Cannon says. “We get to talk about our feelings about having a parent deployed. This camp is cool.”
Organizers of the “OMK Fun Day” say the idea isn’t to make kids forget about wars or danger, but to support military families during these difficult times. Many military families have experienced multiple deployments to the Middle East in the last few years.
“These kids are dealing with serious stressors – having a parent deployed,” says Justin Crowe, an Extension Specialist who coordinates the “OMK” effort by Tennessee 4-H. “We want them to experience what 4-H camp is like, and to know that people care.”
“We hope these camps allow military families to enjoy a day of summertime activities, and for youth to connect with other kids who are experiencing deployment,” says Carrera Harris, an Assistant Extension Agent with the State 4-H Office.
The Tennessee camps will be held on the following dates at these locations:
July 18, 2009 - York 4-H Center, Crossville
July 21, 2009 - University of Tennessee-Martin (Skyhawk Fieldhouse)
July 25, 2009 - Austin 4-H Center, Greeneville
All camps are from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. This fun-filled day will include games, activities, lunch and swimming. Day campers are asked to bring a bathing suit, towel, sun screen and to wear comfortable shoes.
Registration for this event will be held through the UT Extension Office in every county. Campers will need to stop by the Extension Office in order to secure a spot. Campers should ask for the F-600A event acceptance form. To find the UT Extension Office in your county, log on to www.utextension.utk.edu/offices/
For additional information, please contact the UT State 4-H Office at 865-974-2128.
Nationally the Operation Military Kids program has touched more than 88,000 children since its inception in 2005. That’s also the first year Tennessee 4-H partnered with this organization.
4-H is the youth development program for UT Extension. 4-H teaches citizenship, life skills and service learning to more than 300,000 youth in grades 4-12 in Tennessee, and also has more than 18,000 adult volunteers statewide.
UT Extension operates in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties as the off-campus division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. In addition to Extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture includes the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and UT AgResearch.
Extension is an educational and outreach organization funded by federal, state and local governments, UT Extension in cooperation with Tennessee State University, brings research-based information about agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and resource development to the people of Tennessee where they live and work.
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Contact:
Carrera Harris, 865-974-2128, charri61@utk.edu