Austin, TX — The Comfort Crew for Military Kids is joining Matthew McConaughey’s j.k. livin foundation, former University of Texas Football Player Tray Allen and The Boys and Girls Club to help military children. The high school students are assembling comfort kits at Lanier High School to help support children who will have a mother or father deployed this year from Camp Mabry in Austin.
There are more than 2 million military children in the United States who are dealing with really tough issues and are in great need of support. Of those, approximately 1.2 million are school-aged children and more than 1 million children have experienced one or more parental deployments, with a significant number of these parents having been away from their children for as long as 48 months.
Trevor Romain, Co-Founder of the Comfort Crew for Military Kids, who speaks with thousands of military children each year and has developed the Deployment Comfort Kits with the USO to help children cope with the stress and hardship of having a parent deployed, will speak to Lanier High School students who are volunteering their time to help support the families of our military men and women who are risking their lives to protect all of us.
“Their parents will be leaving soon and most people in Austin and across the country do not understand the toll it takes on children when they have a parent deployed in a war zone for an extended period of time. Their mother or father may miss their birthday or Christmas or may be injured or killed and these kids worry and endure a lot of stress,” said Trevor Romain, Co-Founder of The Comfort Crew for Military Kids.
The high school students will be building 250 With You All the Way! Dealing with Deployment Kits. These kits are designed to support families and children ages six and older who have a loved one deployed or deploying in the US Military. The Deployment Kit is centered around the With You All the Way! DVD, created by the Trevor Romain Company with the USO, and contains other valuable resources. Whether the children are dealing with pre-deployment, deployment or reintegration, we’re with you all the way, helping children to express their emotions and connect with their family members. The Deployment Kit includes: the animated DVD With You All the Way! Dealing With Deployment; a writing journal with prompts, calendar, map, and activities; a caregiver booklet; a set of ten postcards featuring original artwork by bestselling author Trevor Romain; Cuzzie, a plush bear offering support and companionship; and a pair of imprinted dog tags to share with the deploying parent. All of this is housed in a Cuzzie Cargo Case to keep treasured items safe while a loved one is deployed.
The just keep livin foundation is dedicated to helping teenage kids lead active lives and make healthy choices to become great men and women. The j.k. livin foundation was designed to work with our nation’s schools to reach the maximum number of children with the greatest needs. In their after school program, they encourage students to improve their physical and mental health through exercise, teamwork, gratitude, and positive life choices. In these programs the kids gain confidence, a better attitude, self-reliance, and hope for a great future. The j.k. livin afterschool programs help these kids get a healthy start today, so they can make a better tomorrow.
The Boys and Girls Club of Central Texas is open year-round for boys and girls 6-18 years of age. They provide a variety of grouped and individual recreational, educational and social programs. Their mission is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need it most, to reach their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.
According to the Department of Defense, the military of the United States is currently deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with more than 205,118 of its 1,425,113 active-duty personnel serving outside the United States and its territories.
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The Comfort Crew for Military Kids
The Comfort Crew for Military Kids was founded in 2007 to support and comfort children managing the challenges of today’s military life, including deployment, reintegration, moving, visible and invisible injuries, and grief. Since its inception, The Comfort Crew has endeavored to meet this goal by working directly with military children and families, recognizing their unique challenges, providing educational resources, and supporting physical and emotional resiliency.
Trevor Romain and The Comfort Crew, in partnership with the USO, work directly with our military children, visiting them on and off bases around the world. The Comfort Crew has also produced a series of comfort kits that are customized to meet the specific needs of military children, including the With You All the Way! Deployment Kit, the Taking Care of You! Support for Kids of Injured Heroes Kit, the PCS: The Great Moving Adventure Survival Kit, and the Helping Military Children Handle Grief Kit. In addition, The Comfort Crew for Military Kids regularly hosts events designed to promote awareness and the physical and emotional resiliency of military children.
Whether visiting with a military child at school, providing a Care Kit to help with the obstacles of reintegration, or educating our community about ways to support resiliency, our goal is to let these children and their families know they do not have to shoulder the burdens of military life on their own — we are With You All the Way!