Operation Kid Comfort
- Sam and his quilt.
Operation Kid Comfort creates custom-made quilts for children of deployed military personnel who experience grief from missing their mom or dad.
Created in 2004 at Ft. Bragg/Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville, N.C., ASYMCA’s Operation Kid Comfort is designed to address the emotional stress that children of military personnel suffer during a parent’s absence from home, providing free quilts for children ages 6 and under and pillows for children ages 7 and older. To date, the program has made more than 7,000 quilts for children of deployed parents.
9/11 National Day of Service
Greater DC Cares, the leading and largest coordinator of volunteerism in the region, chose Operation Kid Comfort as the flagship service event for its 9/11 National Day of Service events. As the banner event, more than 200 volunteers created dozens of quilts for children all over the country. The event was held on Sept. 11, 2009, at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
The Program
ASYMCA volunteers collect photographs from military families to make “photo-transfer” quilts that feature images of the deployed family member. With the help of local quilting artists, volunteers are taught the basic steps of quilt making, how to crop and scan pictures, preparation of the fabric, and use of equipment. Once the quilt is complete, it is given to the child to play with, sleep with, or use to comfort them from the grief of missing their mom or dad.
Request a Quilt
Parents or loved ones of children of deployed parents can request a quilt or pillow by filling out the Operation Kid Comfort Request Form.
Note: This form is only for those families not stationed at one of the military installations currently offering the Kid Comfort program. For a list of those installations, see “Available Locations” below.
We ask that you provide six to nine photographs of your children with his or her military parent and/or other family members.
Volunteering
Operation Kid Comfort has been featured on CNN’s American Morning and in numerous trade and military magazines and local newspapers. Due to the publicity of the program, requests for quilts are coming in from all over the country. Volunteers have created nearly 6,000 quilts since the program started, averaging about 1,000 quilts each year. Your participation in Operation Kid Comfort will help to guarantee the continued success of one of ASYMCA’s most popular programs.
To volunteer for the Operation Kid Comfort program, please fill out the Volunteer Quilter Form.
Documents & Information
Available Locations
Fort Bragg/Pope AFB ASYMCA
San Diego Armed Services YMCA
Watertown Family YMCA
Junction City Family YMCA
Killeen Armed Services YMCA
