As the deadline nears to nominate outstanding military teens for Operation Homefront’s 2020 Military Child of the Year (MCOY) Awards, past winners tell us what being a Military Child of the Year has meant for them. Their work and their stories are amazing! Here, six previous recipients reflect on the impact of the awards on their lives:
Isabelle Richards, 2018 Military Child of the Year, Navy
Since being Named the Navy MCOY in 2018, my ability to help inspire change in others has accelerated. I am a grassroots girl who previously helped wounded warriors in a few states. Currently, I am proud to say I serve wounded warriors , healing heroes and veterans in 45 states!
Operation Homefront’s award put what I do on an entirely different networking level. This past year I made or had delivered almost 11,000 cupcakes and cards to those service members and veterans. That is almost 11,000 service members and veterans who know they are still cared about and honored!
Thank you, Operation Homefront, for changing the trajectory of what impact I could have!
Campbell Miller, 2019 Military Child of the Year, National Guard
I am blessed and honored just to have been nominated in the past, but especially to have been chosen. The friendships that I created with the other winners while together have lasted and have been very impactful. We still encourage one another, talk to each other about significant life events, and sometimes just laugh together.
I am grateful for the opportunities that have come from receiving the award and I am excited for the recipients of 2020.
Eve Glenn, 2018 Military Child of the Year, Air Force
Selection as a MCOY finalist gave me the platform to honor my father, who at the time was a in the United States Air Force. Now, I continue to partner with Operation Homefront during the academic year and summer to promote the MCOY award and work on supplementary projects within the nonprofit.
Recognition from Operation Homefront and the MCOY empowered me to advocate for military populations in college and beyond.
Elisabeth Lundgren, 2019 Military Child of the Year, Navy
Winning MCOY was surreal. It was amazing to see how many people I could inspire just by being myself.
Winning was an amazing way to show my dad that my success didn’t suffer just because he missed out on big parts of my life. My success in swimming and in the classroom happened not in spite of my dad’s service but because of my dad’s service.
Shelby Barber, 2018 Military Child of the Year, Innovation
Winning MCOY has connected me to so many people who understand how I feel. I have a better understanding of Operation Homefront and other programs out there to help military families, which also allows me to inform other military families about these programs that can relieve so much pressure from hard situations. Winning the innovation award helped my higher education advance as I have clear goals and good starting points.
Brandon Mammano, 2019 Military Child of the Year, Innovation
I definitely have been very blessed to have won this award because it has given me the opportunity to work with Booz Allen Hamilton and see how they function as this gigantic consulting firm and how they break down all these processes to get a job done. It’s a well-oiled machine. It’s breath-taking to see that.
Having so many people create solutions and seeing the different paths they’ve thought for my project of is absolutely amazing. I’ve seen my it grow from an being an idea to become physical entities.
I’ve also made new friends for life. Each one of the MCOY recipient’s stories shows you a different aspect of military life. But we all have felt that sense of being alone sometimes, and that’s when we have to lean on each other.
To nominate the terrific military child in your life,
go to www.militarychildoftheyear.org and click Submit Here.
