The awards ceremony for the Celebration of Star Power of Our Military Kids was held at the Naval Heritage Center in Washington D.C. last April 19.

The event, which honored five children of service members and one military family in recognition of the outstanding accomplishments they were able to do through funds from Our Military Kids’ grant program, was attended by family and friends.

The Our Military Kids grant program is a public and private partnership, in support of the children of service members in the National Guard, all reserve branches of the military, wounded warriors, and fallen heroes.

It was founded in 2004, in order to provide support to children of the National Guard and Reserve families, aged three to eighteen, during deployment, as well as children of wounded warriors in all branches of the military. It provides $500 grants for extracurricular activities while a parent is serving overseas.

Funding for the program is provided by corporations, private donors, and government grants.

Linda Davidson, co-founder and executive director of Our Military Kids’, shared: “We are honored to recognize out littlest warriors heroism, courage and continued resilience… The children were selected for their service to their families and communities during the deployment of their military parent, and their willingness to share their talents.”

The honorable G. Kim Wincup, chairman of the board of directors for Our Military Kids’, on the other hand, shared: “This charity has been remarkably successful… Eighty percent of children experience increased anxiety and stress from having a parent deployed. As a result of adding additional activities to their daily routines while that parent is absent, 95 percent of those children do better because of the support.”