WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — A brand new business at 1050 Tollgate Road in Warwick opened its doors this Veterans Day weekend, which was the perfect time considering what Operation Made sells.
Every item in the store is made by veterans and military families.
The people behind Operation Made tell us, the storefront hopes to encourage entrepreneurship one veteran at a time.
Melissa Zeman served in the Air Force for eight years and is now part of the Rhode Island Air National Guard.
“The military taught me how to be a hard worker and disciplined definitely. And excellence in all I do,” Zeman said.
Now she’s putting those principles to practice in her new craft, creating beautiful wooden flower arrangements.
“I started this because I got sick and I couldn’t work so I needed something to help me strive to get out of bed every day and keep my mind off being sick. So here we are, and it grew way bigger than I thought it would,” Zeman said.
Zeman is one of more than a dozen veterans featured at Operation Made, a gift shop that is giving back.
“I wanted to give back to the military community, I’m a former military spouse, so I gathered up some fellow veteran artists and military spouse artists, and told them to come on in and put their stuff up for sale,” owner Nicole O’Brien said.
You’ll find everything from home decor, jewelry, photography, and every purchase benefits a veteran artist.
In addition to opening this brand new store concept, Nicole O’Brien is also launching a competition to help one veteran get their business up and running.
All the details are posted to Operation Made’s Facebook page.
