USO brings Little CHAMPS tour to FLEACT Yokosuka

Photo By Paul Long | Debbie Fink sings and plays the violin during the singing of the Coast Guard anthem. All five service songs were sung and played during the "Little CHAMPS."  

YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

04.18.2013

Story by Paul Long 

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka

YOKOSUKA, Japan - As a part of the ongoing celebration of the Military Month of the Child, USO Yokosuka brought The Little CHAMPS (Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel) tour to the Benny Decker Theater onboard Fleet Activities, Yokosuka.

The show is targeted towards elementary school aged children and is based on the book of the same name co-written by Debbie Fink and her daughter Jennifer.

Fink described herself as a civilian with no prior military service connection as active duty or a family member.

“It’s because of all our your [CHAMPS and all service men and women] sacrifices, my children are able to grow up with one mailing address,” she said. “I owe a debt of gratitude to our military community and this is our way to give back.”

It’s very important that someone understands what children are going through Fink said.

“As a child advocate and as a mother, I deeply understand and know and feel, how challenging situations are for kids and if they don’t feel that there’s somebody there who acknowledges, recognizes this, and is ready to comfort and support them, then they just go through life in a vacuum,” Fink said.

According to Fink, the children are very appreciative of her efforts.

“The children feel the gratitude,” she said. “Their self-perception changes when they hear we’ve come all this way to thank them…the fact we look at them and honor them and celebrate their contribution to our nation.”

“They leave with their shoulders pulled further back, chins up, and with a smile, and we know then that we’ve done our job.”

Part of the show includes a song that was written specifically for these children, which has become an anthem for the children.

“We deliver to these CHAMPS the understanding that they don’t have to be going through all of their military-connected challenges alone,” Fink said. “There is a community to support them and it’s their right to ask for help.”

Fink’s tour consists of 25 shows over 10 days in Department of Defense Dependents Schools in the Pacific region.

According to the Public Health Initiative, the Little CHAMPS book provides children of active duty service members coping tools to help them face their respective challenges and to raise awareness among civilian children about the lives of their military connected peers.

For more information about the Little CHAMPS, visit TheLittleChamps.org on the web.

• Date Taken: 04.18.2013
• Date Posted: 05.07.2013 01:45
• Story ID: 106465
• Location: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP