HILL AIR FORCE BASE—Being a child of a military family can be hard, especially for those with special needs. As part of First Lady Abby Cox’s Show Up initiative to expand opportunities for children with all abilities to participate in sports, 250 members of Hill Air Force Base families were treated to a field day on Monday. The event coincided with April’s national celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Month of the Military Child.

“It was started in 1986 to recognize those children who serve with their parents,” said 2nd Lt. Taylor Ferry, a public affairs officer with the 75th Air Base Wing. “They change six to nine schools and go through a tough time. The event was to show support for them and that we appreciate them.”

HAFB is also one of only a few military installations in the world to have the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) that assists military families with special needs.

“The goal of the program is to establish, implement and maintain comprehensive support for those families,” Ferry said. “It is offered to all branches of the military. The program helps with referrals, community support, medical support, special education and legal services for special needs families.”

The EFMP helps families through the schooling process, he said. “They offer information about school and intervention services and outreach. They also help with warm hand offs, easing them from location to location. That can be tough on them.”

Those who attended the event were members of “Team Hill,” said Ferry. “That’s the base as a whole – we’re all one.”

Ferry said the base is fortunate to have tremendous support from the community. “Blue Star families, Special Olympics Utah, USO and the Utah Department of Veterans Military Affairs were at the event. It was a great time for Team Hill kids.”λ