YORKTOWN, Va. — Operation Homefront's 2024 Military Child of the Year recipients have been announced, and one Hampton Roads teen has been named the Military Child of the Year for the Army.
18-year-old Allison Candelario, a senior at Grafton High School, is recognized for the positive impact she has made in her community. Allison's family has a strong tradition of military service that she takes pride in.
“It’s a lot of adapting," she said. "It’s a lot of trying to find family where you are.”
After seven different moves, Candelario always made sure to find her community. Her father's military career spans three different branches (Army, Marines, and Air Force Reserves) and 26 years. He's currently in Kuwait.
“He's my biggest inspiration," she said. "I’m such a goal-getter because of him, because he believed in me.”
"She works hard," said her father, Sgt. Maj. Daniel Candelario. "So, she deserves it. I was amazed. We’re all amazed out here.”
Her brother also serves in the Army. However, her journey has been much different. At 13, Allison was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“My pediatrician in Fort Eustis found a lump on my breast,” Allison said.
After a second opinion, doctors detected a tumor that needed to be removed. Allison also had to get a mastectomy.
“Just recently, I’m going through my reconstruction process which is such a young woman thing to go through,” Allison said. "I met so many wonderful doctors and nurses and surgeons and it really did inspire me to, like, be them."
Despite an overwhelming process, she attributes her strength in part to being a military child.
“When you’re a military kid, you don’t just stop your life because you’re moving. You just keep on going to the next duty station,” she said. ”Going into my cancer journey, I just got into that same mindset.”
And it’s shaped her path to becoming a pediatric surgeon. In the past year alone, Allison logged 880 volunteer hours. Many of those hours came from time spent at Riverside Hospital's surgical intensive care unit, shadowing nurses in their day-to-day tasks.
When it comes to this platform, she hopes to inspire other military children.
"Just because you can’t settle down, doesn’t mean you can’t leave an impact,” she said.
Allison earned her Girl Scout Gold Award for working with women's health professionals to create a curriculum for teaching girls about their bodies.
This fall, she will head to Virginia Tech to study biochemistry. Then, she plans to attend medical school.
Nonprofit Operation Homefront's annual Military Child of the Year Award celebrates the achievements of military children and the impacts they make on their families, their communities and the country.
The recipients of the awards are recognized for their success in academics, volunteering, leadership, and extracurricular activities. They are awarded with a $10,000 grant, a laptop, and other donated gifts. The recipients will be recognized for their achievements during a gala in April, the month of the military child.