Maribel Sikes has been named 2025's military child of the year after she completed 1,500 hours of volunteer work at Fort Knox, Kentucky and Camp Zama, Japan. Her father serves as an Army officer and she grew up on various military installations, while finding ways to make them better.
During the 2020 pandemic, Maribel was isolated due to various COVID-19 restrictions, and organized events for the children in her neighborhood such as having them put on a play. "It was just this amazing experience as far as making sure everyone was included and felt like they could help serve in the play,” explained her mother, Audrey. "And I think that that really started something inside of her."
At Camp Zama, she asked the librarian if she could start a story time for preschoolers and home-schooled kids. Her story time ended up evolving into a number of programs, including summer reading programs, a teenage book club, and adult craft classes. Later, she went on to form a youth Red Cross Club on the installation that served the local community.
“As an introvert, I struggled with fear of public speaking or looking foolish in public," Maribel said of her various community endeavors. "It became more evident to me as I started stepping up and serving in my community that I realized that I can't allow fear to stop me from serving. I want to help make a difference in people's lives and fear is not allowed to hold me back from being the person I want to be ... a person who serves others."
On April 10, Maribel and her family traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept her award as the Army's top military child.