April is the Month of the Military Child and to commemorate children who have parents who have or are currently serving in the armed forces, Fort Campbell’s Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) has a series of events planned to celebrate them.
Lisa Taylor the community activity coordinator and Tammie Coleman the director of parent and outreach services for MWR talked about the significance of the Month of the Military Child and the activities they have planned throughout the month.
Coleman shared the history of the month and how it came to be. Coleman says April was designated as Month of the Military Child in 1986 by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.
Each year, Coleman says the president to signs a proclamation to recognize the month and honor around 1.6 million military children at duty stations worldwide. Fort Campbell will have its own proclamation signing at their annual Color Run which kicks off Fort Campbell’s events for the month.
The Color Run is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. with registration at 9 a.m. at Shaw Physical Fitness Center. Before attendees take off running and are doused with colorful powder, Taylor says Fort Campbell Garrison Commander, Christopher Midberry will sign a Month of the Military Child proclamation.
The Color Run features at 5k and 1 mile fun run track as well as live DJ music and food trucks.
Along with the Color Run, Taylor says Wednesday, April 17 is national Purple Up Day where the community is encouraged to wear purple to show their support to military children and to recognize their strength and sacrifices.
Taylor says they are also encouraging the community to put on their purple on Fridays throughout April as well. MWR is selling Month of the Military Child shirts which are available for order until April 10.
On Saturday, April 20 Taylor says they are hosting their annual KidsFest will take over Fryar Stadium from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature DJ music, military demonstrations, competitions and prizes, face painting, balloon artists and more.
Beyond the festivities, Coleman shared that they are hosting their Young Lives, Big Stories Contest throughout the whole month and are inviting military children from the ages of three to 17 to share what it means to them to be a military child.
Coleman says children can tell their stories by drawing a picture, writing an essay or creating a video and prizes will be given to multiple winners. More information about the event is available here.
All of the events hosted throughout April are open to children of active and retired military members that reside on or off the Fort Campbell military base installation.
Both Taylor and Coleman expressed that they are happy to be able to annually celebrate military children with these events. A full Month of the Military Child event itinerary is available on Facebook at Fort Campbell MWR.
