{"id":19401,"date":"2025-10-24T19:43:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/19401\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T19:43:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:43:06","slug":"south-florida-families-face-growing-hardship-as-government-shutdown-drags-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/19401\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida families face growing hardship as government shutdown drags on"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 With the federal government shutdown stretching into its fourth week<\/a>, some South Florida workers are turning to local food banks for help feeding their families.<\/p>\n

Feeding South Florida hosted a mobile food pantry Friday at Miami International Airport, distributing a week\u2019s worth of groceries to families of unpaid federal employees struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there is a need out there with the shutdown, so this is something we like to do for the community and we are excited to help,\u201d said Helen Hines, Feeding South Florida\u2019s mobile pantry coordinator.<\/p>\n

The event aimed to assist 250 households, according to Hines. <\/p>\n

Lines formed early as federal workers \u2014 many from TSA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement \u2014 arrived to collect fresh produce, milk, eggs, canned goods and protein items.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot. You know, we are not getting paid right now, so it is really nice for the community to help us out,\u201d said one federal worker who did not want to be identified.<\/p>\n

Another federal worker added, \u201cI am very grateful that they are doing this for us. It is kind of rough, but here we are \u2014 still coming to work, showing up. We are here for the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeding South Florida President and CEO Paco V\u00e9lez said the organization is working to ensure that families don\u2019t go hungry during the shutdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeeding South Florida is out distributing food to many of the federal employees who are not getting paid during the government shutdown,\u201d V\u00e9lez said. \u201cMany of those federal employees are still going to work \u2014 still at TSA, at Immigration, still at our bases, protecting this country, protecting our cities, protecting our people. However, due to a man-made crisis, they are not getting paid and they are struggling to put food on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hines said the food selection is designed to last a full week. \u201cThe selections and variety allow them to make several meals, not just one,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The current standoff in Washington has resulted in the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history, surpassing all but the 2018\u20132019 closure that also prompted Feeding South Florida to step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeeding South Florida was here in 2018-2019 to make sure our federal employees had food on the table,\u201d V\u00e9lez said. \u201cAgain, during this government shutdown, we will be here for our government employees for as long as they need us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal workers who spoke with Local 10 News said the community support means everything as they continue to show up for work without pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, thank you, we appreciate it,\u201d said one worker. Another added, \u201cEspecially for those of us who have kids at home, it helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

A TSA spokesperson released a statement asking for the public\u2019s patience as many employees continue working without pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWhile the vast majority of TSA\u2019s nationwide operations remain minimally impacted by the government shutdown, occasional delays at some security checkpoints are to be expected. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer the shutdown goes on, the more severe the impact on our TSA workforce who have expenses they must pay for, making it harder to show up for work when not being paid,\u201d the statement continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cDespite this challenge, TSA will remain vigilant and focused on performing our vital security mission on behalf of the American people,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

As lawmakers in Washington remain at an impasse, many South Florida federal workers say they\u2019re simply trying to hang on until their next paycheck arrives \u2014 whenever that may be.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> if you would like to contribute. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 With the federal government shutdown stretching into its fourth week, some South Florida workers are turning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9678,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-19401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-9678","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}