Your donations at work for youth
A 14-year-old boy began to disengage from family and friends following his father’s military deployment, even though family members encouraged him to be proud of his father’s service. His demeanor changed after he received a $500 grant to attend football camp and an awards packet from Our Military Kids – the young boy told his mother that he was proud of his father’s service and proud to be serving alongside him.
Our Military Kids has provided 55,000 grants, totaling $22.5 million, to children of deployed National Guard or reserve servicemembers, and wounded servicemembers since 2004. The grants support extracurricular youth activities such as sports, camps and arts.
The American Legion’s Child Welfare Foundation (CWF) has supported Our Military Kids for the past nine years through grants that have helped the nonprofit educate Americans nationwide about the needs of military children through the creation of brochures, videos and its website, www.ourmilitarykids.org.
"Our Military Kids ensures these children are engaging in positive activities and focusing on the things that make them the happiest," said Linda Davidson, co-founder of Our Military Kids, to Legion Family members attending the National Children & Youth Conference last month in Indianapolis. "The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation has truly enhanced our ability to get the word out and military families are better served because of you."
Besides receiving an opportunity to participate in an activity, Our Military Kids grant recipients receive a special packet in the mail that includes letters of thanks and encouragement; an Our Military Kids patch; dog tags printed with "I love my military parent" and a wristband that reads "I’m proud of my military parent"; and a stamped postcard with the information and address of the donor that provided the grant.
"Our Military Kids is alleviating the stress and anxiety in military children and boosting the morale of our servicemen and women," Davidson said.
A four-time CWF recipient, the National Children’s Cancer Society (NCCS) was founded in 1987 and since then has helped 38,000 children with cancer and their families across the United States, and has distributed more than $62 million to help those families.
"We have been very grateful to receive support from the Child Welfare Foundation," said Julie Komanetsky, vice president of NCCS patient and family services. "You make us successful in what we’re doing for (childhood cancer) survivors and for children in general. Thank you for everything you do for children across the country."
Komanetsky shared with Legion Family members that the survival rate for children with cancer is more than 80 percent; however, about 66 percent of children who survive childhood cancer will suffer long-term challenges as a result of their invasive treatment. CWF grants have helped NCCS with survivorship materials for parents and children regarding the long-term challenges. And last year’s recent grant helped NCCS launch its Sun Day-Fun Day program.
The program educates children about the benefits of sunscreen and encourages them to use it to prevent skin cancer.
"The goal is to impact kids at a young age, prepare them and encourage behaviors that hopefully they will use for a lifetime in order to see better results with skin cancer in adulthood," Komanetsky said.
NCCS created a video of testimonials from youth who share what it feels like to get a bad sunburn – "Ouch!" – launched the hashtag #shadethatsun, and developed a toolkit that features a letter to parents to encourage sun safety at home and Sun Day-Fun Day posters to hang in schools. All information is online at https://thenccs.org/sundayfunday.