Armed Services YMCA honors military children

Sophie Roth-Douquet has spent time in Washington, D.C., North and South Carolina, Okinawa and London — all in her short 11 years of life. Nikita Martin, one of Sophie’s good friends, lived in Japan until she turned 9. Now, at 11 years old, she is back in D.C.

Sophie and Nikita are children of the United States Armed Forces — Sophie’s dad is a Marine and Nikita’s is in the Navy. Both entered the Armed Services YMCA Annual Art and Essay Contest that honors winners with savings bonds.

Sophie entered the contest when friend Veronica Fair McLeod, also in the fifth grade in Beaufort, S.C., mentioned that the two should enter and win first place. “I came in first and Veronica came in second, so it kind of worked out,” Sophie said. “I entered the contest because my dad had a difficult childhood and now is in charge of so many men.”

{mosads}After tugging on her mother’s sweater to ask her how long her father has served in the Marine Corps, Abigail Breslin look-alike Sophie turned around to announce proudly that her father served 24 years in the Marines.

As for her favorite place to live, Sophie enjoys the nature parks and wildlife of South Carolina best, but found London to be a “cultural experience.” She names her brother, who is four years younger, as the more artistic one in the family. “I actually like writing and math more than art,” she said.

Nikita received a first-place award for her picture of her, her mother and father, who is a captain. “I remember the day I was told that I won my dad got an e-mail and I started to jump up and down and scream,” she said, smoothing the sparkly sweater and black leggings her father said took her hours to decide on.

Nikita would love to move back to Japan if she had the choice and said that her father is her hero because “he works really hard at what he does.”

Other winners include Tyler Moorhouse, 10, whose brother placed in the art contest last year. Moorhouse’s picture honoring her mother Andrea Palermo of the Coast Guard came in second place. Moorhouse’s favorite aspect of military life is spending summers at her grandparents’ home near Mount Vernon while her mother is away.

Pierce Condon, 10, came in first place for his depiction of his family welcoming home his father from the Air Force. Condon, who is adopted from Russia, plans to enter again next year.

There were also older children in attendance who were art winners. Connor Everingham, 12, won first place for sixth-graders. “My friends think it’s pretty cool that my dad flies helicopters over our house,” Connor said.

{mosads}Connor, who has lived in nine states, enjoys getting new pen pals everywhere he goes. “It’s fun to have friends all over the United States,” he said.

One essay winner was in attendance from the grades 9 and 10 group. Alexis Todd, 15, wrote a poem about what her father, who is in the Army, had to go through serving in Iraq. “To witness what he had to go through and the effect it had on him, it makes me really look up to my dad,” Alexis said.

The ASYMCA also awarded the Pulaski County, Va., ASYMCA with its Raytheon Award and Mrs. Deborah Mullen, a military wife, with its National Spirit of Caring Award.

This past October, the ASYMCA announced a new $31 million initiative with the Department of Defense to provide eligible military families and active duty personnel with access to programs through community YMCAs. Since then, 1,765 YMCAs have signed up for the initiative and over 13,560 military family members now belong to a YMCA.