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Military Child of the Year® Award

Now in its 16th year, the Military Child of the Year® Award reflects the positive impact that these impressive young people have made on their military families, their schools, and their communities.

Announcement

Following the nomination of more than 700 outstanding military children from across the country, national nonprofit Operation Homefront is pleased to announce the 7 recipients for the 2024 Military Child of the Year® Award. 

Air Force RecipientNoelani Martinez, 16, San Antonio, TX

Army RecipientAllison Candelario, 17, Yorktown, VA

Coast Guard RecipientCharlotte Tama, 18, Washington, D.C.

Marine Corps RecipientIsabella Arrieta, 17, Murrieta, CA

National Guard RecipientCaleb Hatch, 19, Boulder, CO

Navy RecipientLindsay Carstairs, 17, Rancho Santa Fe, CA

Space Force RecipientTaylor Walsh, 17, Arlington, VA

About the Awards

The annual awards recognize outstanding young people ages 13 to 18. Recipients will represent a branch of the armed forces — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Space Force — for their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and other criteria while facing the challenges of military family life.

All Military Child of the Year® Award recipients will be flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., and recognized at the April 2024 gala, during which senior leaders of each branch of service will present the awards. They also will receive $10,000 each, a laptop computer, and other donated gifts. The gala is usually held in April, the month of the military child, as a way to recognize the support and appreciation we provide to military families.

WHAT ARE THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?
  • Child must be a legal military dependent. Status confirmed by DEERS enrollment form.
  • Military children must be between the ages of 13 and 18, at the time of nomination.
  • Child and one adult guardian must be available to travel to the Washington, DC area April 9-12, during the month of the military child, for the Gala award presentation.
  • Officers, directors, employees, and agents of Operation Homefront and its subsidiaries or affiliated organizations, and their immediate family members (parent, child, sibling, and spouse of each) and those living in the same households of each are not eligible to receive programs, services, grants, or donated goods intended for use by Operation Homefront’s clients.
  • Previous Military Child of the Year® Award Recipients, including Innovation Award recipients, are no longer eligible.

In addition to the above eligibility requirements, nominees must:

  • Provide Letters of recommendation (if selected as a semifinalist)
  • Provide Form 1172- DEERS (if selected as a semifinalist)
  • Be willing to participate in media and donor opportunities

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