KOSCIUSKO — May is Military Appreciation Month and The Salvation Army is making plans to help military families.

When parents serve in the military, their children “serve” as well, many times having to move or facing time when their parent is deployed or away on assignment. The Salvation Army Hidden Falls Camp in Bedford each conduct a week-long experience for children of service personnel from the Hoosier state each summer.

At “military kids camp,” children of soldiers get a chance to experience military life as their parents did through exciting workshops and exercises like boot camp and cadence calls. These activities take place alongside classic camp activities such as swimming, hiking, ropes courses and wall climbing. Military kids camp is more than just fun and games, though. It offers boys and girls a chance to meet new friends with the same family background in a nurturing, healing environment.

Campers include children of active duty soldiers as well as those of soldiers who were wounded or killed in action. Many of these boys and girls must deal with frequent moves, heightened anxieties and, as is the case for Gold Star children, the death of a parent. Military kids camp plays an important role in easing these worries and fostering self-confidence.

For more information, click here.