Celebrating, Honoring, and Acknowledging Teen Caregiving

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The Caregivers’ Breakfast exists to celebrate, honor, and acknowledge caregivers, with a special focus on military teen caregivers, whose stories are too often hidden in plain sight. In many families, there is not just one, but multiple teenage caregivers and siblings who share the responsibilities of care with resilience and quiet pride, carrying forward a legacy of service within their homes.

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These teens balance school, friendships, and their own futures while providing critical emotional and practical support: caring for an injured parent, assisting a sibling with special needs, or managing the weight of deployment-related absences. Their work is unpaid, unrecognized, but invaluable.

 

Why We Honor Military Teen Caregivers

​For 250 years, wherever there has been military service, there have also been caregivers, often children and teens, who stepped into responsibility beyond their years. From the Revolutionary War to today, military teen caregivers have quietly carried responsibilities that hold families together in times of conflict and change.

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They are part of America’s story, and as the nation marks America’s 250th Celebration, their voices must be lifted to a national stage. Their stories are not just about burden, but about resilience, leadership, and the torch of care carried proudly by the next generation. 

 

When we speak of teen caregivers, we honor those in active duty, veteran, and reservist families, and we also salute civilian teen caregivers, who carry the torch of care with the same resilience and pride.

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Why Your Support Matters

​The Caregivers’ Breakfast is a call to action for the sectors that shape our nation’s health and resilience, healthcare, research, philanthropy, advocacy, and policy. Their involvement is vital to ensure that caregivers, especially teens, are recognized, supported, and empowered.

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By investing in this moment, sponsors affirm their role in shaping a future where caregivers are not invisible, but central to how our nation understands resilience, family, and community. Supporting this effort means standing at the intersection of history, health, and human dignity, and helping ensure that the next 250 years include the recognition, resources, and systems these caregivers deserve.

 

Nominate a Teen Caregiver

​As part of the Caregivers’ Breakfast, we invite nominations to celebrate and recognize military children and teen caregivers:

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• Teenagers may nominate other teens who inspire them with their caregiving role.

• Military service organizations, schools, and community groups may nominate outstanding teen caregivers they support.

• Families living abroad, on or off military installations, are warmly encouraged to submit nominations, ensuring that military child caregivers around the world are seen and heard.

 

Together We Carry the Torch

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The Caregivers’ Breakfast exists to lift these stories into the light. By celebrating and acknowledging the Military Child Caregiver, we remind the nation that resilience is carried not only on the battlefield, but also at home often by the youngest among us.

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When we speak of teen caregivers, we honor those in active duty, veteran, and reservist families and we also salute civilian teen caregivers, who carry the torch of care with the same resilience and pride.