A donation was presented to Connected Warrior Foundation President Jeffrey Wells from  Patuxent Partnership by President Karen Garner (r) and Executive Director Bonnie Green.

California, MD — Patuxent Partnership elected new board members for the coming year at its annual meeting October 28th at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center. Members received a report of the past year’s activities from Executive Director Bonnie Green. And they also heard from representatives from two non-profit organizations.

Speaker Jeffrey Wells is a wounded veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. He founded the Connected Warrior Foundation after being wounded in 2006 by an IED explosion and waking up in a hospital in Germany. He found there was a lot of attention to the physical injuries but not the emotional toll. His disconnection from his family and the soldiers he left behind was helped when he received a Kindle Fire. He realized that could be a tremendous aid to others in the same situation.

After persistently attempting to connect with Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, he finally succeeded. He asked for donated Kindle Fires. Instead Bezos agreed to give a generous donation to purchase 500 Kindle Fires for wounded warriors. That was the impetus for getting the Connected Warrior Foundation up and running. The devices allow the disabled veterans not only to read books and play games but to connect with others through email.

In addition to the Amazon connection, the foundation has created a partnership with Google that allows them to provide Nexus tablet devices.

With the numbers of wounded soldiers declining with the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Maryland-based Connected Warrior Foundation has branched out to other outreach activities for veterans.

One of those efforts is assisting in finding jobs for the veterans. Wells said that he has been successful in matching a veteran for every business that has expressed a willingness to hire a veteran. He said veterans want to secure a job and get their lives back to normal. “They want to be part of the society they defended,” he said.

Wells day job is Executive Director of Cyber Development at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, so he is familiar with the workforce requirements of The Patuxent Partnership members. He said there are 19,000 unfilled technology jobs in Maryland, and many veterans are uniquely qualified to fill them. He urged the members to reach out to veterans when they have a job opening.

Wells, whose daughter attends St. Mary’s College, said he was glad to be back in the county and that it would give him an opportunity to have lunch with her.

For more information of the Connected Warrior Foundation you can go to www.connectedwarrior.com

The other speaker at the meeting was Southern Maryland Community Resources (SMCR) Executive Director Bonnie Elward. The new organization is attempting to fill the gap in services to individual with disabilities once they are out of school. It promotes education, social and recreational opportunities.

St. Mary’s Ryken High School recently partnered with SMCR in a program called Art to Heart which won an award from the St. Mary’s County Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

The organization has recently begun training sessions for deputies on how to interact with persons with disabilities.

For more information on SMCR you can call 301-997-8143 or email info@somdcr.org

At the meeting The Patuxent Partnership announced its 2014-2015 Board of Directors. TPP Board members are leaders within Industry and Academia, giving their time and energy to further the mission of TPP.

New members include, Mr. Steve Eastburg, Mr. Chris Flood, Ms. Dorothy Hammond, Dr. Tracy Harris, Mr. Bert Johnston, Mr. Michael Johnston, Mr. Kal Leikach, and Mr. Steve Tomaszeski.

They will be joining Ms. Karen Garner (Board President), Ms. Linda Vassallo (Secretary), Ms. Karen Holcomb, Dr. Al Hovland, Mr. Randy Loyer, Mr. Dave Papak, Mr. Ajay Sehgal, Mr. Gene Townsend, Mr. Steve Wall, and Dr. Dale Moore, the Navy / DoD Liaison.

Retiring board members are Dr. Ed Barrett, Mr. Michael Dugan, Mr. Dane Swanson, Mr. Joseph Anderson, Mr. Robert Farinelli, and Mr. Glen Ives.

Board President Karen Garner commented on the impressive credentials of the new members and the support they will provide, from STEM initiatives to defense programs. Bios will be available on the TPP website.

The Patuxent Partnership works with government, industry and academia on initiatives in science and technology, hosts programs of interest to NAVAIR and the broader DoD community, and supports workforce development including education initiatives and professional development.  Visit www.paxpartnership.org or call 301-866-1739.