MEDIA ADVISORY
Now accepting applications for free summer camp
for children of deployed military parents,
from Camp Fire Alaska
and the National Military Family Association
The National Military Family Association is now accepting applications for its popular Operation Purple® Camp hosted by Camp Fire Alaska. Operation Purple is a free summer camp program to support military children, ages 7-17, dealing with the stress of war and deployment.
From July 14 to 19th, 64 of Alaska's military kids will spend at Camp Fire Alaska's Camp K on Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, hiking, canoeing, swimming, playing games, doing crafts, and participating in all the other fun of Camp Fire's summer camp program, while getting a chance to forget the stresses associated with having a deployed parent and just be kids. Camp staff will also guide the kids in a specialized curriculum to help them learn coping skills and talk about their feelings surrounding mom or dad's deployment.
Funding for the camps will come from a combination of a grant from the National Military Family Association, and funds raised by Camp Fire from corporate and private sources in the Alaska community.
The application process is now open, coordinated by the National Military Family Association at their website: www. militaryfamily.org/our-programs/operation-purple. Applications will be accepted until March 4.
Rebecca Luczycki
Marketing and Communications Manager
Office: (907) 257-8805
Cell: (907) 351-7269
rluczycki@campfireak.org.
Camp K on Kenai Lake is a residential camp in Cooper Landing that provides one of Alaska's best natural settings where campers can explore the wild world around them, develop outdoor skills, make new friends, and have fun. Activities include canoeing and kayaking; swimming; archery; hiking; tent camping; nature programs; outdoor living skills; arts and crafts and drama. Camp K is Alaska's only non-denominational, co-ed, American Camp Association-accredited residential summer camp.
In additional to Camp K on Kenai Lake, Camp Fire Alaska provides municipally licensed before- and after-school child care at 30 school locations in the Anchorage School District, as well as four community centers in economically challenged neighborhoods in Anchorage. Camp Fire's Summer Adventure Program, which is located at several elementary schools in Anchorage and Eagle River, is licensed by the Municipality of Anchorage, and Camp Si-La-Meo, which is held on the campus of Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, is accredited by the American Camp Association. Camp Fire USA Alaska Council serves more than 5,000 youth each year, and 600 youth attend its summer programs.
www.campfireak.org
The Operation Purple program was created in 2004 in response to the call from military parents to "help us help our kids." The mission of the Operation Purple program is to empower military children and their families to develop and maintain healthy and connected relationships, in spite of the current military environment. We do this through a variety of means, including the healing and holistic aspect of the natural world. The program is open to children and families of active duty, National Guard or Reserve service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service and NOAA. Since then the Operation Purple program has grown to serve approximately 45,000 military children and teens. The Operation Purple program also includes family retreats at national parks and specialized family camps geared to address the needs of children and families of our nation's wounded service members.
www. militaryfamily.org/our-programs/operation-purple
Operation Purple Camp press release