Last month, Port Discovery Children’s Museum in downtown Baltimore held its third annual United Service Organization (USO) Night, inviting more than 750 military families in the Mid-Atlantic region, primarily from Fort Meade, to explore the museum and city, and make new connections with other families free of charge.
Port Discovery partnered with USO, an organization dedicated to serving active-duty military members and their families, to put together this night of fun that featured an estimated 1,200 guests, along with local legislators from Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties showing their support.
The museum was closed to the public from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and military families that won a ticket in a drawing arrived to find the place entirely to themselves, some of their neighbors on base and their fellow service members.
“Port Discovery has always been interested in partnering with the USO and supporting military families and first responders, and making sure that the museum is accessible to them,” says Carter Arnot Polakoff, president and CEO of Port Discovery. “But what we’ve learned over the past couple years is that so many [of these military families] are new to the area, and they need a reason to be invited into the city to experience what we’re doing here.”
Polakoff says that the USO Night offers parents a great outlet to spend time with their kids and that there has been positive feedback from past events.
Emanuel Figueroa, the director of individual and corporate relations at Port Discovery, says that around six years ago, the museum noticed a barrier for military families in getting to the museum, and after researching found that many of these families were moving to bases around Maryland for the first time and didn’t quite know their way around or what was available locally.
Figueroa adds that the timing of the event in early November works well because many service members get their permanent change of station orders in the summer, start school with the kids in September, settle in during October and are ready for something to do right after that.
“This [month] is when [families] are asking, ‘What can we explore in our new city, in our new state?’ and that’s why we have this event on Veterans Day Weekend every November, and it’s an opportunity for military families that just moved to Maryland to come together and have a day learning, and playing and meeting each other,” Figueroa says.
Having the USO help organize and promote the event is another boost to participation, as the recommendation from a trusted source brings assurance to military families.
“It’s a bit of vetting, if you will, that’s beyond just Google Reviews, which are not always right, which are not always legit, or they’re outdated,” says Kathy Campbell, a center operations specialist with USO and a military spouse.
Campbell adds that seeing a friendly face in a social setting outside of work can build stronger connections among military members and keep them engaged with their communities.
As for the kids, they got to spend the night running, climbing, building, learning and shouting with joy as they explored the three floors of Port Discovery and all the intentionally designed activities within.
There was a special puppet-making station for the event within the museum’s theater, a mini soccer field where kids tried their hardest to score on their parents, a giant rope jungle gym that led to a giant slide and so much more, to the young participants’ delight.
The variety of activities and attentive staff got high praise from some of the families in attendance as well, with one parent noting appreciation for independent play, which allowed kids to “be in charge of their own chaos.”
“If we could do [this kind of event] all the time, we would,” Polakoff says, noting it has been expanding in recent years “because we know how grateful the families have been.”
Find more resources and connect via midatlantic.uso.org.
