Author of Self-Help books for Kids kicks off first USO tour to the Pacific

USO Sponsored “With You All the Way” program kicks off International Tour and helps children cope with issues unique to growing up a military child

Tour led by Trevor Romain, award winning author and illustrator of self-help books for kids

Arlington, Va. (January 26th, 2012) –USO’s With You All the Way program concluded the 2012 international tour kick off this week with presentations to military children in Guam.  The With You All the Way program is led by award winning author and illustrator, Trevor Romain.  Romain uses humor to help children identify and cope with serious issues such as deployment, reintegration and when a parent returns home with invisible and visible wounds.

On his first visit to the region for the With You All the Way program, Romain led the two-week tour kick off with presentations to thousands of children at schools throughout Hawaii and Guam.  Hawaii is home to more than 56,000 military family members and Guam’s approximately 8,000 military personnel experience frequent deployments due to mission requirements.  Romain visited with more than 3500 children bringing messages of hope and comfort to kids who have experienced deployments, multiple deployments, the visible and invisible wounds of war, as well as loss of a parent or loved one.

“It is about being real and sharing stories.  I mix in humor and encourage the children to express themselves,” said Romain.  “For some, just knowing that there are other kids out there going through the same thing as them can be so comforting.”

The presentations, tailored to children in length and content, opened with kid friendly jokes followed by a showing of the video “With You All the Way! Dealing with Deployment” as well as clips from other Trevor Romain Company videos such as “Bullies Are A Pain In the Brain” and “Facing Fear Without Freaking Out”.  The presentations closed with an interactive session of questions and answers.  In the week following the presentations, children will receive the With You All the Way Military Family Empowerment Pack containing videos and resources to help both children and parents.  Romain has been working with the USO for the past five years- visiting approximately 21 military installations on seven USO tours.

“We are so excited to have Trevor work with the children in our region,” said Carolyn Harris, USO Regional Vice President of Operations for the Pacific.  “The families here have experienced multiple deployments and Trevor’s presentations and tools provide the children with a way to express themselves and know that they are not alone.”

The With You All the Way tour will return to the Pacific in February with visits to military children living in Korea and Japan.  The fall leg of the tour will include presentations to U.S. military children living in Germany and the Mediterranean.

Click here for photos from the tour kick off.