New uniforms for those who serve
Servicemen and -women get new suits as they prepare to look for jobs
Inside a storage facility at the Cromwell Business Park in Glen Burnie, Staff Sgt. Amanda Doria was wearing black suit with red pinstripes, a rarity for the 14-year Army veteran.
She has plans for a career after she leaves the military, but she said her current outfits won’t cut it when it comes to job interviews.
“I look in my closet, and it’s just military uniform, military uniform, military uniform,” Doria said.
It’s what spurred Saturday’s Marching Our Veterans Back to Work event, an effort led by Anne Arundel County Councilman Pete Smith.
The Severn Democrat, with help from Howard County Councilman Calvin Ball and sponsorships from Farmers Insurance, ZIPS Dry Cleaners and Men’s Wearhouse, obtained 2,600 suits to donate to the region’s veterans.
Ball said the original goal of the event was to help serve 200 veterans.
By Saturday, about 750 had registered, with even more on a waiting list, Ball said.
“I am so moved by the turnout,” Ball said. “It shows how much there is a need.”
The effort targets a group that those in attendance said have a particular need because they don’t earn much of disposable income while enlisted.
Doria, who is stationed at Fort Meade, is a case in point: She receives monthly basic pay of about $3,750, according to figures from the Department of Defense’s Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
She said she sends a portion of her pay to her family.
Mike Haas, a Farmers Insurance agent and an Air Force veteran, spoke about the difficulty of trying to buy a suit while in an E-5 pay grade, a rank similar to Doria’s.
“As you get back out into the community, you need to look the part for the job that you’re trying to get,” Haas said. “And getting a suit was one of the very first things that I needed to try to tackle . ... ”
“When I ventured out into the community and said, ‘OK, I’m going to get a suit and I’m going to look sharp and smart and I’m going to go out and get my first civilian career opportunity,’ I walked in and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is more than I make in a week’ ”
He said Farmers Insurance has helped collect 70,000 suits nationwide to support the cause across the country.
By 10:30 a.m., the warehouse in Glen Burnie was packed with military veterans and their families, surveying racks of suit jackets and dress shirts.
Also attending the event were Reps. John Sarbanes and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger.
Ruppersberger commended Smith and Ball.
“Because if you don’t have a job, you can’t support your family, your community, your state or your country,” Ruppersberger said.
“The purpose and the goal of this was to connect corporate entities and partnerships with community organizations with veterans, who I think are the most worthy citizens that we have in this country,” Smith said. “Honestly, I’m a veteran myself, so I’m probably biased, but I would venture to say there are those who are out there who would probably agree with me that they sacrifice a lot.”
“And it’s only appropriate that we do our part to make sure they’re taken care of,” Smith said.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m., Doria left the event — wearing her new suit. But there remained scores of veterans behind her still, trying on suit jackets.