Although they had to dodge some rain drops and there was a chill in the air, dozens of children of members of the Missouri National Guard enjoyed a day of participating in activities set up on the grounds of the Ike Skelton Training Center.
Friday was Take Your Child to Work Day and the event also marked a celebration of this being the Month of the Military Child. Everyone at the event had someone who has done a deployment and training missions that have taken them away from their loved ones.
Major Adrienne Spadavecchia is chief for the Family and Warrior Support Division of the Guard. She said 122 families participated in an egg hunt, color run, climbing wall, petting zoo, face painting and other activities.
“Our children are unsung heroes,” Spadavecchia said. “They sacrifice so much as we deploy to go to locations in the state and outside as well. They are the ones at home waiting for us to come back and they’re so resilient. We just want to appreciate them.”
Spadavecchia has two boys of her own who have had to spend time without their mom while she was deployed.
“I deployed when my oldest son, Aiden (now 10), was 1-year-old, for my first deployment to Afghanistan and when my youngest, Luke (now 4), was 1½ when I deployed to Kuwait and Iraq,” Spadavecchia said. “It was very challenging, but we made it through and we’re a stronger family now.”
Lt. Col. Mike Seek has two children, Ben, 10, and Evan, 7, and was glad to see this first-time event take place.
“It’s hard for the Guard to do something like this because we are so dispersed so it’s great to see everyone come together and support each other,” Seek said. “Both of the boys have been through two of my deployments. My last one was well over a year long so having a big day like this is neat because the kids go through a lot when the families are gone.”
Among the vendors at Friday’s event was the nonprofit group United Through Reading. Josie Beets is senior vice president of Advancement for UTR which focuses on connecting military families through reading. UTR gave out kits designed for guard members which included two books and information on how to use the program, along with a cellphone stand parents can use to set the phone on as they read their book.
“We record service members reading on video and send the video and book to the child,” Beets said. “We do this for the reserves and active duty personnel. When we started this 32 years ago we were working with VHS tapes and now we have a mobile reading app that service members can download and use.”
Those at Friday’s event said they knew when they signed up serving away from their families was going to be part of their duties, but despite that they enjoy the camaraderie they share and the jobs they do.
“Collectively as a team, we do our best to take care of our Missouri National Guard families to make sure they are ready to deploy, if called upon,” Spadavecchia said.
“The Guard is an extended family,” Seek said. “We’ve moved so many times around the state that we can go almost anywhere and find friends wherever we go.”