Operation Homefront and top leaders in the Department of Defense will honor the six recipients of the 2015 Military Child of the Year® Award on Thursday night.
Every year, Operation Homefront, a national non-profit organization that provides emergency assistance to military families, gives the award to an outstanding military child from each branch of service -- Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. For the first time in 2015, a National Guard child will also be honored.
From a pool of nearly 500 nominees, each award recipient was chosen by a committee including active-duty and retired military personnel, spouses of senior military leaders, veteran service organization leadership, teachers and community members.
The six awardees will each receive $10,000, a laptop computer and other donated gifts. "We're thrilled to honor these six outstanding young patriots with our Military Child of the Year Award," said Tim Farrell, chief operating officer of Operation Homefront. "These awardees represent the strength of our military families, who sacrifice so much in service to our country."
The 2015 Military Child of the Year® Award recipients are:
ARMY
Cavan McIntyre-Brewer, 13
MARINE CORPS
Christopher-Raul Rodriguez, 17
NAVY
Emily Kliewer, 17
AIR FORCE
Sarah Hesterman, 16
COAST GUARD
Caleb Parsons, 18
NATIONAL GUARD
Zachary Parsons, 16
