On the eve of a record-setting shutdown, with no end in sight, Hole Food Rescue (HFR) staff and volunteers piled 2,400 pounds of bagels, potatoes, greens and other goods into two passenger vans.
As of Wednesday, at 36 days, the government shutdown has become the longest in U.S. history. Hundreds of full-time and seasonal federal workers in Teton County have gone for over a month without a paycheck.
HFR program manager Iván Jiménez stood hunched inside one of the vans as four other staff members passed him boxes of food.
“You can bring them over here and I’ll load them,” he said.
The nonprofit has redirected its efforts during the shutdown to help feed federal workers and Teton County’s small percentage of the state’s roughly 30,000 SNAP recipients whose aid stopped this month. That aid is expected to resume in part following a court ruling.
The group typically has a surplus of food in the offseason, donated by restaurants and businesses that are selling less as visitation slows. HFR is unable to pass out that surplus at its nine food pickup locations, which operate throughout the week.
The solution: “Pop-up” events like this one, which they’ve moved into Grand Teton National Park to focus their support on federal workers.
“We have several volunteers who are connected to the park,” Jiménez said. “They said, ‘Hey, you know what, this would be a really wonderful resource to the furloughed employees.’”
But Jimenez maintains that their surplus will end, whether or not the shutdown ends. They’re dependent on donations and volunteers, and as tourism picks back up and the offseason fades, they’re unsure if they’ll be able to make another trip.
“We are absolutely doing everything we can to support our furloughed federal employees,” Jiménez said, “[but] we cannot fill the gap that the federal government does by employing them.”
He estimates they’ve given out over ten thousand dollars’ worth of food in three trips within the past month.
The One22 Resource Center is in a similar boat.
Seadar Davis works with the Jackson nonprofit that has handed out about 300 envelopes with $250 gift cards to federal workers for essentials like gas and groceries for weeks, about $75,000 in total.
“We feel really fortunate that we’ve had some bigger donors step up to make this possible,” Davis said.
One22 extended its program to Nov. 14 as the shutdown stretched into its second month. It’s seen federal workers apply faster this go around, which she attributes to the program’s spread through word of mouth and more financial stress.
She’s unsure if they’ll have the funds to extend the program again.
“We are committed to remaining open until November 14th or the end of the shutdown, whichever comes first,” she said.
In the Cowboy State, most federal employees have gone without a paycheck since early October. Many have been furloughed, while others are working without pay. All are expected to be paid when the government reopens, per federal law, despite the White House casting doubts.
The shutdown shows no signs of ending.
