More military children — including more children of wounded warriors — will be able to attend this year's free Operation Purple camps around the country, thanks to a partnership between the National Military Family Association and the Wounded Warrior Project.
NMFA will send more than 2,600 children to free camps this summer. Generally, about 1,100 children have been attending the camps each year. There are 29 weeks of camp at 24 locations around the country.
Applications close April 6.
NMFA created the program in 2004 to provide opportunities for military children to have a fun and rewarding experience in the company of other kids with similar experiences in military life.
As in the past, priority is given to children who have had or will have a parent or guardian deployed within a 15-month window.
With the support of the Wounded Warrior Project, NMFA added a second priority category: children of service members who incurred service-connected injuries or illnesses on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Previously, they've been eligible, subject to the 15-month deployment window. Now, that window does not apply to children of wounded, ill or injured troops, so more of these children will be eligible.
Beyond those two priorities, remaining camp slots are filled with any Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System-eligible military child.
Depending on the camps and the children's ages, a wide variety of activities are offered, including swimming, hiking, service projects, arts and crafts, and rock climbing. Camps have different age ranges, but overall, they are for children ages 7 to 17.
Officials urge families to apply to a camp as close to their location as possible because NMFA doesn't provide transportation or reimburse transportation costs.
"We must do more to meet the needs of all military children, especially those of our wounded service members," said Gail McGinn, chairman of the NMFA Board of Governors, in a statement announcing the expansion of the camps. "Wounded Warrior Project's generosity and recognition of our high-quality Operation Purple Program is a huge win for military families."
Jeremy Chwat, chief program officer at Wounded Warrior Project, said this collaboration helps collectively strengthen the resources that are available to wounded, ill and injured veterans, their caregivers and their families.
"To truly impact a generation of warriors and help them transition from surviving to thriving, the entire family needs to be a part of the recovery process," Chwat said.
For more information about eligibility and to apply to a camp, visit NMFA's Operation Purple site.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
