{"id":197886,"date":"2026-03-19T15:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197886\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:33:11","slug":"feeding-tampa-bay-helps-airport-staff-affected-by-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/197886\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeding Tampa Bay helps airport staff affected by shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees just missed their first full paycheck<\/a> as a freeze in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding has resulted in a partial government shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because of that, hundreds of TSA workers have resigned and many more are calling out sick. As a result, waiting times have increased dramatically during the spring break travel period at major airports in places like Atlanta, New Orleans and Houston.<\/p>\n

At local airports, security employees continue to work despite not being paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very fortunate our TSA staff is widely complimented and respected,\u201d St. Pete-Clearwater International communications director Michele Routh said. \u201cThey\u2019re still showing up on time and ready to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

And airports like St. Pete-Clearwater and Tampa International are trying to help that staff by partnering with Feeding Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

The organization provides food assistance, as well as financial advice and medical help, in 10 counties across West Central Florida.<\/p>\n

Routh said that support is critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been instrumental in the help,\u201d she said. \u201cThey give us all sorts of resource information for TSA employees to go to grocery shop, if they need assistance for paying bills, mortgage, utilities. They have many resources for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Feeding Tampa Bay officials said the demand is not limited to airport staff.<\/p>\n

Lorena Hardwick, the organization\u2019s Chief External Affairs Director, said the broader Tampa Bay community has been equally affected by rising costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cGas prices are up. Food prices continue to be elevated. There isn\u2019t going to be a time where these prices are going to start going down,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we definitely have seen an influx of more families coming through and seeking assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while the organization will continue to support the community, internal concerns have arisen about sustainability.<\/p>\n

\u201cNonprofits can\u2019t do it all, and we can\u2019t do it all alone,\u201d Hardwick said. \u201cAt the end of the day, we are doing everything within our capacity to ensure that, if someone comes to our door, that we have the resources we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re able to donate, Feeding Tampa Bay takes monetary and non-cash gifts. More information on how to donate is on the organization\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re in need, the organization has food pantries in 10 counties across West Central Florida, as well as mobile pantries for those unable to travel.<\/p>\n

You can find pantries near you and other ways to find help on Feeding Tampa Bay\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ricardo Cuomo is a news intern at WUSF, Tampa Bay\u2019s NPR afilliate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees just missed their first full paycheck as a freeze in Department of Homeland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-197886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197886","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=197886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}