Quad City Times, IA
11-12-06
Program reaches out to kids whose parents are deployed
By Dawn Feddersen
For military families, a deployment can leave one parent struggling with sudden
single parenthood.
Operation Family Time Out is here to help.
For the past two years, Operation Military Kids of the Greater Quad-Cities has
been offering a free half- day of child care and fun every month for children of
active duty military personnel.
“It’s a good break for the parents. Especially for those who are single parenting
while their spouse is deployed. And it’s certainly a good way to support the
troops,” said Diane Baker, youth development educator for the University of
Illinois Extension, which helps run the program. Iowa State University
Extension in Bettendorf and YMCAs throughout the Quad-Cities also help the
program thrive.
Family Time Out alternates every month between Ys on the Iowa and Illinois
sides of the river. On Saturday, 30 kids visited the Two Rivers YMCA in Moline,
where the event was held.
The kids kept busy with swimming, games, and making ornaments for a tree that
will be displayed at Festival of Trees.
Ashton Wilson, 11, of Davenport, described the ornaments: “We put our hands
on them. We wrote about our fathers and where they’re at right now. We put
glitter on them and we tried to be creative.”
Wilson’s father is in the Navy and is currently stationed in Virginia.
Zach Mayo, 13, was at his third Family Time Out on Saturday. His father is in the
Illinois National Guard, though he hasn’t been deployed. Mayo’s uncle is
currently stationed in Iraq.
Though Mayo likes hanging out with other kids whose parents are in the military,
he says they just do normal, fun things.
“We like to hang out, play video games. We played racquetball before. That was
fun,” he said.
Jessica De Cap, coordinator of the program, says that when the kids talk about
their parent who has been deployed, they stay pretty upbeat.
“They always talk about their parents in a positive way. They say, ‘I did this for
my dad and sent it to him.’ Or ‘I got to talk to my dad.’ They miss that parent, of
course, but they try to stay positive,” she said.
The day out wasn’t only for the kids.
“The parents are so appreciative,” DeCap said. “You can tell they really need it.
Especially when they come in with a quantity of children. They just tell you ‘thank
you,’ ‘thank you,’ repeatedly.”
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.