Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - A group of University of Wisconsin-Platteville students and Grant County 4-H members will serve as youth counselors for Operation: Military Kids (OMK). The State Family Program of the Wisconsin National Guard will hold its Family Weekend March 9-11 at the Radisson Airport Hotel in Green Bay. Sue Curtis, director of UWP's Community University Partnership, trained the counselors and will accompany the students to the event, where they will work with children whose parents have been, are currently or will be deployed for military service.

Stephen Horvath, 4-H youth development agent for Wood County, recently returned to his wife and four children after having been deployed to Iraq.

"I'm excited to see a program has been put in place to help military children deal with the temporary loss of one or both parents," he said.

The U.S. Army Child and Youth Services collaborated with National 4-H Headquarters and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to make Operation: Military Kids a national campaign urging participation at the state level. In the past, UWP students and employees, in cooperation with Grant County 4-H, have contributed to the Wisconsin OMK events by planning games, activities and discussions to help children cope with deployment. Last year, Curtis wrote a grant securing Hero Packs for the children, and UWP students spent time filling the packs with items such as disposable cameras, teddy bears and UWP and 4-H mementos. Students in a variety of UWP classes also wrote letters to support the children. They will provide similar services for this year's event.

Anyone interested in learning more about OMK may contact Curtis at (608) 342-1308 orcurtissu@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Sue Curtis, director, UWP Community University Partnership, (608) 342-1308,curtissu@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: April Schmidt, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, schmidap@uwplatt.edu