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Not home alone

Operation Military Kids

For children and teens of deployed military personnel in this state, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has four words: You are not alone.

For the past four years, Cooperative Extension has coordinated the Maine chapter of Operation Military Kids, part of the 4-H/Army Youth Development Project to provide community-based support through programming and services for youngsters and youths with military guard and reserve parents. Funding comes from the Department of Defense.

“Depending on their ages and coping mechanisms, military kids can be at risk,” says Karen Gagne, a 4-H Extension educator based in Kennebec County. “They can face separation anxiety and fear for their parents’ welfare, which can manifest in a range of behaviors, including anger and acting out, depression and physical ailments that cause them to miss school.

“Operation Military Kids is about recognizing what the children and teens of deployed military personnel are going through, and helping meet their needs.”

Operation Military Kids takes advantage of technology to keep children and youths as connected as possible with deployed parents. With a wireless mobile technology lab, Gagne and other volunteers help children and their families learn how to share their lives in photographs, video and audio.

“By giving them tools to help them cope and share, they’re engaged and staying connected,” says Gagne, who organizes Operation Military Kids programming, often in conjunction with other military support efforts for soldiers and their families.

Operation Military Kids also distributes Hero Packs to youngsters — backpacks that include stationary, books, disposable cameras, resource materials and a hand-written note of thanks from a volunteer for their strengths and sacrifices.

For teens 13 and older, wilderness survival camps at Bryant Pond emphasize team building, leadership development and service learning.

“A goal is to help them be a kid again, finding time just for them,” Gagne says. “Many times teens of military parents take on more roles at home. In the camps, we help them find their strengths and gain new skills so they can be resilient.”

Beyond the camps, the older children continue to connect electronically with peers in Operation Military Kids. They become involved in Speak Out for Military Kids, an outreach initiative in which teens share their views and experiences, raising awareness in their schools and communities.

Once engaged and supported by their own peers, the teens often mentor younger military children, Gagne says.

In communities and schools statewide, Operation Military Kids organizes training sessions like “Ready, Set, Go!” designed to recruit volunteers and raise awareness of the needs of military children. The goal is to provide support networks.

“The feedback we’ve received from parents and kids is phenomenal,” Gagne says. “Kids have told us they can’t believe they received something — from a Hero Pack to a weekend at camp — because up to that point, it was all about mom and dad.”