Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) Operation Kid Comfort Program

Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) Operation Kid Comfort Program
This program is designed to address the emotional stress that children of military personnel suffer during a parent’s absence from home. Operation KidComfort serves children of deployed Service members. ASYMCA volunteers collect photographs from military families to make “photo-transfer” quilts (for children 5 years old and under; pillows for those over 5) that bear the images of the deployed family member, alone or interacting with the family. Photographs of the deployed parent are scanned into a computer, printed, and then placed onto the fabric. The quilt or pillow is then given to the child to play with, sleep with or use to comfort them from the grief of missing their deployed parent.

Due to the publicity of the program, requests for quilts are coming in from around the country, mainly from the Reserve/Guard community. As a result, the ASY National Headquarters has developed a “kit” that contains everything needed to produce a quilt/pillow. These quilt kits are then sent to volunteers to assemble. The volunteer then mails (mailing label and postage strip is included) the quilt/pillow to the child for whom it was made.

If you would be interested in participating in the project described above, whether to receive a quilt or be a volunteer quilter, please contact: