Attending camp, whether day camp or sleepaway camp, is a summer ritual thousands of children look forward to every year. With the stress of parental deployments, frequent moves, and separation from extended family, military children face many unique challenges. Camps that cater toward military children provide a break from the stressors of everyday life and place children in a setting with others who are experiencing the same things they are.

One such program is Operation Purple Camp, a sleepaway camp for military children at multiple locations around the country. The camp is free of charge to participants and run by the National Military Family Association. Participation is “open to military children with a parent or guardian in any service branch, including National Guard and Reserve, Coast Guard, the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” according to the NMFA website.

Priority for attendance at OPC is given to children whose parents have deployed or will deploy within 15 months of the children’s attendance at camp, though remaining spots are given to children whose parents aren’t in the deployment cycle. Activities include kayaking, hiking, canoeing, rock climbing and zip lining. New locations and opportunities were being negotiated by NMFA when this article went to press, but more detailed information should be available on the organization’s website after registration opens, which is scheduled for March 6.

Camp Corral is another week-long camp offered free of charge to military children ages 8-15. Located at 23 established camps across the country, the Camp Corral experience includes ropes courses, horseback riding, swimming, kayaking, fishing, arts and crafts, and other activities.

Campers can attend any of the Camp Corral sites around the country, though the camp that may be of most interest to Marine Corps Base Quantico families is the one located in Front Royal, Virginia. Priority for the attendance is given to the children of wounded, ill, and fallen service members, though as with OPC, remaining spots are given to other military children. Registration forms and more information are available on the camp website, and registration is open now.

Designed for military teens ages 14-18, Military Teen Adventure Camps offer adrenaline-fueled, outdoor adventures across the country to active duty, reserve, and guard youth free of charge. Kerri Ashurst, the camp director for the camps located in Kentucky, has been in charge of the program for the last five years. Ashurst said the camps are funded by a partnership between the Department of Defense and Department of Agriculture, and multiple states offer an array of adventures. Ashurst said some of the excursions her office arranges are designed specifically for reconnection between a military parent and his or her child and include caving and canoeing at Mammoth Cave, white water rafting, and snow skiing. Though families do have to arrange their own transportation to the departure or gathering point for the camp, Ashurst said they can sometimes reimburse families on an as-needed basis for that cost. In addition to teen-only and parent-teen trips, Kentucky offers whole-family trips that are also free of charge. Three family camps are being offered in 2015.

Given the popularity of the above-mentioned opportunities and the attraction of a free adventure, the camps do tend to fill up quickly. For families who wish to pursue other camps and recreational activities and need financial assistance, Our Military Kids, a 501(c)(3) charity based in McLean, Virginia, provides grants up to $500 for children of mobilized guard and reserve members, as well as injured active duty service members. In 2014, the organization gave out 3,400 grants totaling $1.4 million, said Michelle Tran, family programs director for OMK. OMK will pay for such activities as sports, fine arts lessons, camps, and scouting. Tran said they cannot award grants for child care, school tuition, or religious mission trips.

Families interested in the above opportunities can visit the organizations’ websites at www.militaryfamily.org, www.campcorral.org and www.ourmilitarykids.org. Though the website for the Military Teen Adventure Camps has not been updated for the rest of the year, the grant was renewed, and similar trips to last year’s will be offered throughout the rest of this year. Interested families can view last year’s offerings and current contact information at https://extension.purdue.edu/adventure_camps/index.html.

— Writer: ebaker@quanticosentryonline.com