AARP Maryland Veteran's Corner -- September, 2023

Welcome to the AARP Maryland Veterans Corner, where we highlight news, resources and activities serving Maryland's military community. For information on how to get involved with our veteran's outreach, contact us at md@aarp.org and include "Veterans Outreach" in your subject line.

The Governor's Office of Small, Minority and Women Business Affairs is hosting "Ready, Set, GROW! Procurement Connections Workshop" on September 14, 2023 for insights on how our small, minority, women, and veteran procurement programs work and strategies to identify which agencies and departments buy what you sell. Stick around for the open networking session and meet the buyers.

Governor Wes Moore will deliver the Keynote Address at 10 a.m.

Register

*NOTE: This is not an AARP event. Any information you provide will be governed by the host organization's privacy and data policies.

Eastport’s Denise Robinson is being honored with the AARP Maryland State President’s Award for her Legacy of Honor Project. Since 2016, she has diligently searched for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and merchant mariners from the Annapolis area who died on battlefields around the world or in service during wartime.

Her detective work has followed obscure paper trails that have led to their graves, several poorly marked or unmarked, most from the First and Second World Wars.

On Aug. 8, Robinson hosted the inaugural meeting of the Legacy of Honor Project at the Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library, where she told many stories once lost in history of the local heroes and patriots who answered the call of duty during those war years.

She shared her successes and frustrations in locating official documents and historic records pertaining to our local servicemen and servicewomen, and how she has helped identify the locations of our fallen in unmarked graves.

Robinson expects to coordinate with the Veterans Affairs Commission of Anne Arundel County to ensure a proper headstone is placed on the final resting place of all those she has located. She is working with county citizens and government agencies to identify and honor Gold Star families who lost a loved one to war.

Howard County is hosting the first Veteran Owned Small Biz Expo on Oct. 28 from 10am-2pm at the Howard County EDA/MD Innovation Center on Columbia Gateway Dr.in Columbia, MD. We are seeking business to consumer (focusing on products that can be sold at the event including books and art) veteran, active duty and military spouse owned small businesses to participate, but will welcome some service-oriented businesses as well.

The event is family friendly, with a veteran owned food truck, veteran/military musicians, games, soccer drone demo, HERO dogs, Blue Star Families, resource tables, giveaways and more. Howard Community College and the Howard County Economic Authority/Maryland Innovation Center will offer tours of their space and share information about their programs and services.

The completion of an Interest Form is required of potential vendors. Space is very limited! Once approved by OVMF, the registration fee is $25 per table space which covers a table, 2 chairs and an online directly with your business listed. Custom sponsorship levels are also available.