National nonprofit Operation Homefront is now accepting nominations for the 2019 Military Child of the Year® Awards, as well as applications for the 2019 Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation.

Military Child of the Year® is the nation’s premier celebration of the achievements of military children. Nominations are open through December 5, and all awards will be presented at a recognition gala April 18, 2019, in the nation’s capital.

The annual awards will recognize seven outstanding young people ages 13 to 18 who are legal dependents of a service member or military retiree. Six Military Child of the Year® recipients will represent a branch of the armed forces — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard — demonstrating resiliency, leadership, and achievement during their parents’ military service. The seventh award is the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation presented by global technology and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

This award goes to a military child who has designed a bold and creative solution to address a local, regional, or global challenge.

To nominate a child for the award, visit www.militarychildoftheyear.org and click the Nominations tab. Nomination fields include when and how long a parent has deployed, number of family moves, Gold Star Family or Exceptional Family Member Program status, whether a parent is a wounded service member, nominee’s volunteerism, and five short answers as to why the nominee is deserving.

All seven Military Child of the Year® Award recipients will be flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., and recognized at the April 18 gala, where they will receive $10,000 each and a laptop computer. The recipient of the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation will also receive donated business expertise in bringing their creative solution to market.

Recipients of the 2018 Military Child of the Year® Award:

• Experienced a change of station a combined 29 times;
• Lived through 225 months of deployments; and
• Have logged almost 3,000 volunteer hours in the 12 months before their nominations.

For more information about the Military Child of the Year® nomination process, visit www.militarychildoftheyear.org.