About Us

About Military Child of the Year® Award

The annual awards will recognize seven outstanding young people ages 13 to 18. Six of them will represent a branch of the armed forces — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard — for their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and other criteria while facing the challenges of military family life. The seventh award is the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation presented by Booz Allen Hamilton. This award goes to a military child who has designed a bold and creative solution to address a local, regional or global challenge.

All seven Military Child of the Year® Award recipients will be flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., to be recognized at the April 2020 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.  In addition, the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation recipient will work with a team of Booz Allen employees to develop a plan to scale the project, drawing on technology and strategic thinking.

More about the 2019 Military Child of the Year® Award Recipients:

• The seven recipients have had a change of station a combined 31 times.
• The seven recipients have lived through 187 months of deployments.
• Collectively, the seven recipients have logged 1744 volunteer hours in the 12 months before nominations.
• Of the seven, 3 were seniors in high school and one had already started college.
• Five are National Honor Society members.
• Two are Eagle Scouts.
• Three are competitive swimmers.
• One is a 2-time swimmer of the year award winner, at her high school as well as the recipient of the Ellen Erikson Memorial Award.
• One has earned the rare National Hornaday Conservation Award.
• One is an active cast member with WKAR PBS television's "Curious Crew"
• One was all Conference mid-Ohio HS Baseball.
• One has received a Presidential Volunteer Service Award 3 years in a row.
• One was asked to be part of a research team at Princeton University that focused on researching racism and sexism in society.
• One was selected as 1 of 12 scholars nationally to attend the Frances Hesselbein National Merit Leadership Program at the Air Force Academy.

View pictures from this year's event!

Watch the 2019 Facebook Live presentation of our Awards Ceremony!

About Operation Homefront

Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive – not simply struggle to get by – in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves America’s military families. To follow the award progress, go to https://www.facebook.com/OperationHomefront.