For Thursday's Fourth of July finale, many San Diegans will get a front-row seat to the biggest firework show on the West Coast, The Big Bay Boom.
That includes active duty service members and their families who benefit from donations funneled through the Big Bay Boom.
According to the Big Bay Boom's website, Thursday's donations will help around 9,200 local active-duty service members and their children.
Many children of armed service members are enrolled at the Armed Services YMCA while their parents are away on deployment.
The Armed Services YMCA shared how helpful their childcare program is to military families, especially because their kids need a community that understands their situation of having one or both parents gone for some time.
"A deployment now is up to seven months," Frank Martin, executive director of the Armed Services YMCA said. "That really hurts a single or dual military family when those deployments come up."
The Armed Services YMCA said that it is the oldest military support group for active duty members and their families, dating back to the Civil War era.
It provides the kids with summer camps, food programs, after-school care and support groups like Operation Little Learner.
Sandy Purdon, the Founder of the Big Bay Boom, started the fireworks show event over 20 years ago when he partnered with the Armed Services YMCA.
Allison Garner, Donor Relations Director at the Armed Services YMCA, said since the Big Bay Boom's inception in 2001, they've raised over $1 million for the Armed Services YMCA.
The program currently has 85 kids enrolled and said it's ready to expand.
Garner said their program has a long waiting list, so they want to build another facility to welcome in more children whose parents are deployed.
"It's a place for them to escape," Garner said. "It's a place where they can build a village and be with friends who know. Other kids don't understand what [their] dad being gone means, because their dads come home every night. So this gives them a spot for kids just like them."
The Armed Services YMCA said not all parents are deployed at the moment.
Some of the kids enrolled at the Y will be able to spend their Fourth of July with their parents at the Hilton Bay Front, watching the Big Bay Boom fireworks show.
The Big Bay Boom Fireworks show will start at 9 p.m. Thursday, one hour after sunset, and the show will last for 20 minutes.
The fireworks show will be visible all along the bay.
Big Bay Boom organizers said there will be hotels, restaurants, and other spots offering opportunities to donate to the Armed Services YMCA.
Donations can also be made online here.
