Operation Homefront holds special Veterans Day event for military families

BALTIMORE -- Veterans Day celebrations will take place all over Baltimore this weekend.

On Saturday, a special celebration for military families was held at the B&O Railroad Museum, though. That's where Operation Homefront honored 150 local families.

For trans-Atlantic families, the celebration helped to ease the transition between one country and another.

"I'm from London. My husband is from Michigan," Mica Santon-Taylor said. "We don't really know a lot of things to do around here, so it's great to meet other military families and join together." 

The celebration offered families an opportunity to take advantage of resources, participate in fun activities, and meet local officials.

"The excitement is almost tangible," John Pray, the president and CEO of Operation Homefront, said. "You can feel it, how everyone is excited to be here and celebrate all the great things that our families do for all of us."

Throughout the holiday season, Operation Homefront will put meals on the tables of more than 14,000 military families at more than 100 events nationwide.

"It's going to be a very busy time in our kitchen," Santon-Taylor said. "So, this is going to help a lot because finances are never great around this time of year."

Research from Rand Corporation shows that 26% of active-duty service members report some level of food insecurity, which is more than twice the national average.

"Our primary mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive, not simply struggle to get by in our communities that they've worked so hard to protect," Pray said.

Families who attended the celebration were excited to receive goods that would allow them to kick off the holiday season right.

"I've never had Thanksgiving before," Santon-Taylor said. "This will be my first one. So, we are going to cook all the dishes and celebrate."