Who We Are

Kern County has a fairly unique demographic set up. Our main city is over an hour away (Edwards AFB), and two hours away (China Lake Naval Reserve) from its nearest military bases. This causes a severe lack in support in our main city, where most of our residents live! We have 3,286 military youth in Kern County! This is a huge number of children here in Bakersfield who may be struggling with the associated issues of having a deployed parent, but not have the support they need to get through this tough time. Our local/regional support network branch of Operation: Military Kids is funded by a grant through the Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Community & Family Policy, Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth and 4-H National Headquarters/National Institute of Food and Agriculture/U. S. Department of Agriculture under Kansas State University special project number 2010-48713-21882.

We are the local part of a larger team, Operation: Military Kids.

Operation: Military Kids is the U.S. Army's collaborative effort with America's communities to support children and youth impacted by deployment. Regardless of whether Families are experiencing deployment for the first time, the second time or another in a series of multiple deployments, OMK’s goal is to connect military children and youth with local resources in order to achieve a sense of community support and enhance their well-being. Operation: Military Kids (OMK) is a purple organization covering youth from ALL BRANCHES OF SERVICE!

Operation: Military Kids
Local/Regional Support Network

Veronica Slaton
1031 S. Mount Vernon Ave.
Bakersfield, Ca 93307
661-868-6235
661-868-6208 fax