Sinaiyah’s Story: First Military Kids Workout at the White House
May 30, 2023
Submitted by: Sinaiyah Emami, OMK Grant Recipient
Your heart beats fast and you close your eyes straining to push yourself further.
All around you, you hear, “You got it!!” “Keep going!!” “You're almost there!”
You see others surrounding you doing the exact same thing, pushing themselves, not accepting defeat. That’s what hundreds of military kids and their families experienced at the Month of the Military Kid Workout held on the White House South Lawn on April 29th, 2023.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Joining Forces organized the first ever workout on the White House lawn to honor military children and their families. The event kicked off when the First Lady excitedly spoke to the exhilarated crowd. “We’re all in this together!” was what she highlighted most in her inspiring speech.
She then handed the microphone over to military child Gabrielle Reynolds, who was there with her father Will Reynolds representing Team Red, White and Blue. In her speech, she shared a little bit about what it meant to her to be a military child and how much physical activity impacted her life.
Gabrielle then concluded by saying, “For me, personally, it’s not about how far or fast you go, or how many reps you do but who you are doing them with and the connections you make throughout,” ending with, “But I do like to win,” which brought peals of laughter from the onlooking crowd.
Our Military Kids was one of the many organizations that participated in the workout at the White House event. When asked about what it meant to see OMK invited to this exciting event, Kara Dallman, the Executive Director at OMK responded: “I was super excited to be invited to the White House for a Month of the Military Child celebration, but I was even more pleased to be able to extend the invitation to 20 OMK family members so they could connect with each other and hundreds of other military families.”
Abigail and her brother, Jude Gutierrez, were among the 20 OMK families to participate in the workout. After being asked what she thought about the White House bringing awareness to military kids, Abigail responded, “It makes me feel good and excited that they are including people.”
Her brother Jude shared his thoughts about the workout: “It made me look at workouts a little bit differently. Like it was something I could do on an everyday basis. It made me feel more positive about myself.”
The introduction of the Military Kid Workout on the White House South Lawn is just one more step to bringing greater awareness to military children all around the country, and even internationally. There are many people still unaware of what military children must endure due to their parents’ injuries received during deployment or while in training. That is why activities like this one are so important; they pave the way for greater recognition to this practically unseen group.
Sinaiyah Emami, age 14
Our Military Kids Grant Recipient
