Serving The Families Who Serve: Camp Fire’s Military Family Partnerships
Growing up is hard. Growing up in a military family is often harder. With their parents away for training and long deployments or having to move away from friends and make new ones in new places—military kids face unique challenges.
Through key partnerships with organizations dedicated to serving military families, Camp Fire Alaska helps create camp experiences where military kids can connect, learn, discover, and most importantly, simply be kids.
Armed Services YMCA of Alaska
A military child might attend five different schools before they graduate. Starting over in a different state, even country, is challenging. But, as Sarah Riffer, Executive Director at the Armed Services YMCA Alaska (ASYMCA), explains, “the ability to develop deep connections quickly is an amazing trait for our military children.”
One of the places they make those connections is with Camp Fire. Each summer, ASYMCA partners with Camp Fire to send military children, at a discounted rate, to Camp K.
“Summer camp is the one place on Earth where everyone fits in,” Sarah says. “Everyone finds their special talent, and everyone is wildly cheered on to be themselves. That is the unfettered support we want for our military children while they are living in Alaska, so when harder days come, they have those memories, experiences, and friendships to hold onto.”
A child says good-bye to her parents, dressed in Air Force uniforms, before getting on the bus to for a week at Camp K.
And with their kids away enjoying camp, parents often find their own respite. Sarah shares a story from a few summers ago about three siblings who attended camp together. Sarah met their nervous mom at camper drop off and learned that their dad had already been deployed for six months.
After camp, the mom called Sarah and said she was “so filled with joy.” She loved hearing her kids’ camp stories and seeing their eagerness to return next summer. But she also found so much joy in having a few days to prioritize herself. “To sleep for maybe the first time in the six months, to cry my eyes out in the shower because I just needed to,” Sarah recalls the mom sharing.
“It’s easy to support those big moments for our military families, like the coming home ceremonies,” Sarah says, “but it really is the quiet desperation in the middle where we see our families need the most support.”
ASYMCA also partners with Camp Fire for their annual Military Spouse Summer Camp, which offers adults the same camp magic their kids get to experience—new hobbies, new skills, and new friends.
“We want the best for our military children and their families. It is a high bar, and we do not lower that bar. Camp Fire often exceeds our expectations. From the leadership to the physical spaces, I know nothing goes undone or unseen with Camp Fire.”
National Military Family Association
What if military children could experience a week of camp designed for kids just like them? Since 2004, the National Military Family Association has served over 70,000 kids with Operation Purple® Camp. Here in Alaska, the camp is held at Camp K, where about 90 kids attend each summer. Supported by donations, the camp is provided at no cost to families.
“Military families who live in Alaska go through the same struggles and upheaval as their counterparts in the lower 48,” says Christy Brown, Operation Purple® Program Manager, “however, they often do it with fewer available resources.”
Christy says camp is a great counterbalance to what military kids are experiencing. Operation Purple® Camp is a weeklong immersive outdoor experience where they can “build community, independence, and confidence, all while developing core character strengths that support long-term well-being.”
“We have found that camp provides an ideal space for campers to learn and grow in a short period of time,” Christy says. “Camp Fire’s attention to creating safe and supportive environments for campers aids substantially in this outcome.”
Caidyn, center, celebrates with her fellow Leader in Training graduates at Camp K. She first attended camp with Operation Purple®.
Christy’s favorite story is about a camper named Caidyn. She attended Operation Purple® Camp one year, then attended Camp K’s Leader in Training program, and now she is joining Camp Fire this summer as a staff member.
“I love this story because it echoes what I see and hear every year,” Christy says, “A child who arrives apprehensive about the entire experience of camp, who, after just a week on site surrounded by their peers in a safe and supportive environment finds that they have had a transformative experience. This impact spreads when campers decide to become part of the camp team to give back to the community that means so much to them.”
The motto of Operation Purple® Camp is “Military Kids Serve Too.” Christy says that military kids are an “integral part of the military community.” And while the camp is vital to supporting them, the National Military Family Foundation’s programs are designed “to create connection and impact that last long after their camp experience ends.”
Alaska Army National Guard Child & Youth Program
National Guard families navigate a different kind of military life. Many of them serve part-time and have civilian day jobs, spending their time in their home communities rather than on an installation. But they can be called to deploy with little notice, causing confusion for kids and leaving families without the same support system as those on active duty.
Suzie Mauro, Lead Coordinator with the Alaska Army National Guard Child and Youth Program, says that many of the kids they serve don’t have a National Guard friend at their school. Her program contracts with Camp Fire to provide food, lodging, and activities for a 4-day camp so their volunteers can “spend time specifically teaching skills that promote resilience and leadership.”
In addition to the camp, Camp Fire staff visit their annual Teen Leadership Retreat and winter retreat to provide leadership and camp counselor training. Suzie says some of those teen leaders will be volunteering at Operation Purple® Camp this summer.
Members of the Alaska National Guard Child and Youth Programs’s Youth Council at Camp K in 2025. The group will be volunteering this year at Operation Purple® Camp. (Courtesy of AKNG CYP)
“Moose and Atlas from Camp K have directly impacted many of our Teen Leaders through their thoughtful, meaningful educational opportunities,” Suzie says, using the camp names for Camp K’s director and assistance director, Tom Martin and April Luck. “It’s always a highlight of our retreat to see Moose and Atlas in the ‘off season’ and continue to build trust and deeper connections.”
Our partnership grew deeper this year, when due to budget constraints, Suzie’s program had to cancel their contract for their 2026 camp. “Our youth were heartbroken,” Suzie says, but Tom and Melissa Webber, Senior Director of Development, “worked behind the scenes and presented us with an opportunity to still bring National Guard kids to Camp K—and I quote—‘because National Guard kids deserve camp.’”
Suzie says she couldn’t agree more with that sentiment. “The skills and connections kids make during a week of screen-free time can’t be replicated anywhere else. [We are] forever grateful for the dedication to military youth and generosity that Camp Fire Alaska has shown to us this year, and every year we’ve worked together.”
Military Families Strengthen Our Communities
Military members and their families make up around 7% of Alaska’s population. Within that number are thousands of kids living a childhood shaped by service and sacrifice. By partnering with these organizations, Camp Fire helps ensure these kids are celebrated for their courage while they experience the magic of camp.
Because when Alaska military kids are supported, our communities are stronger.
These programs are made possible by the generous support of our donors. Join us in continuing this important work by supporting military children with a donation today.