Martin Dupalo Veteran of the Month February 2013

The Nevada Office of Veterans Services (NOVS) recognized Martin Dupalo during a presentation at the Grant Sawyer Building, Las Vegas, on Thursday February 21.

Executive Deputy Director, Kat Miller, presented the award on behalf of Governor Brian Sandoval with approximately 40 Grant Sawyer staffers who took time out of their morning to attend and show their support. “Mr. Dupalo’s efforts have positively impacted both veterans and nonveterans from Southern Nevada to the Middle East,” said Miller. “From spending his time and money collecting food for local efforts or coordinating medical supplies to be sent overseas, Mr. Dupalo is one of the volunteer warriors we benefit from in our communities.”

From 2006 to 2007, Dupalo founded his second food recovery program for veterans in the Las Vegas area collecting food from 16-18 separate sites three times weekly and distributing it to veterans in need throughout Southern Nevada. And in 2008, in conjunction with veteran friends, he led a three month effort to collect medical supplies which were sent to US military units in Iraq for distribution to children and elderly in the communities they were serving in. These items which included wheelchairs, crutches vitamins and more, assisted US Troops to win crucial cooperation through humanitarian efforts in communities abroad. Mr. Dupalo’s efforts have also served to impact the education of the public of combat conditions in Afghanistan by partnering with a combat photographer and financed a 180 day photo presentation at University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2010.

“Governor Brian Sandoval is an enthusiastic supporter of our efforts to honor Nevada’s veterans, and this recognition for Mr. Dupalo is another example of our appreciation for the continued contribution and difference Nevada veterans are making in our state,” said Cage. “We appreciate the Governor’s staff in Las Vegas assisting in spreading the word and for those who took time out of their day to help us say thank you to another veteran working to better our state by helping those in need.”