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Operation Purple caters to kids with family members at war

Apr-20-2006 » Filed Under: Homefront

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By MEGAN BAEZA, Anchorage Daily News

A week filled with late-night campfires, torched marshmallows and ghost stories is the stuff of dreams for most children, but for the dependents of a deployed member of the military, it can be much more.

Operation Purple is a program of the National Military Family Association and offers a free, weeklong summer camp with a goal of giving military children who face their own battles with worry, fear and change the tools to face deployment challenges using positive outlets and camaraderie.

According to the association Web site, more than 115,000 children have at least one parent who is deployed in the war on terrorism, and many of them deal with the added pressures of multiple deployments or having more than one family member serving. The camps offer a respite from the heavy emotional and psychological burden that falls on the sons and daughters of America's military.

It encompasses all service branches, including the Guard and Reserves, in 23 locations across the country.

The program was launched nationally in 2004 and is entering its third year in Alaska. This year's camp will run July 9 to 15 at Lost Lake Scout Camp, a Boy Scouts of America facility 60 miles south of Fairbanks. It's open to children ages 9 to 15, and activities planned include swimming, fishing, boating, archery, marksmanship, hiking, survival skills, crafts, journaling and a high-adventure course. [...]

For more information about Operation Purple, call the Armed Forces YMCA of Alaska satellite office in Fairbanks at 1-907-353-5962, the Alaska statewide office in Anchorage at 552-8469 or visit www.operation purple.org. Information about Alaska's camp can be found under the "2006 Camps" tab.


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