After helping federal workers who missed paychecks during the shutdown, local charitable groups expect needs to persist through the holidays and beyond. 

Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado was among the key groups ensuring food went out to veterans via Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, to soldiers and civilians at Fort Carson, and to airmen, guardians and civilian employees through Peak Pantry on Peterson Space Force Base.

Many other groups also stepped forward to help meet the needs, including the First Sergeants’ Councils at the Air Force Academy and Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases, who connected with federal employees missing paychecks.

In turn, Care and Share and the Warrior Warehouse, another food pantry on Fort Carson, saw an outpouring of generosity to help meet the needs. 

“We have seen a great response from the community the last two months,” said Nate Springer, president and CEO of Care and Share and former garrison commander at Fort Carson. 

Near the end of the shutdown, El Pomar activated its Colorado Assistance Fund and sent out $1.5 million to help meet the need for food statewide because benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were held up. The longest government shutdown in history ended Nov. 12, and while troops continued to receive paychecks, civilians deemed essential who worked through the shutdown did not. 

Some of the grant funding from El Pomar went out to those serving the military community and included $150,000 for Care and Share, $10,000 for the Peak Pantry at Peterson, $15,000 for the Air Force Academy’s Operation Warm Heart, and $25,000 for Mt. Carmel Veterans Services.

While the five military bases in town and the veteran community are a small percentage of the food bank’s work across 29 counties, it is key, Springer said. 

At Fort Carson, Care and Share upsized their mobile food distribution to a box truck that visits the old Abrams Elementary School twice a month. During the shutdown, when civilians were missing paychecks, the site saw hundreds of cars line up during a distribution event, Springer said.  

While pay is flowing again, Springer said he expects the need will persist on base because, despite the 14% pay raises junior enlisted troops received in 2025, the high cost of living around Colorado Springs still challenges junior soldiers’ budgets, particularly those with children. 

While it’s one of the most desirable places to get posted, Colorado Springs is also one of the most expensive locations for an Army base nationally, and about two-thirds of the soldiers live in the community. While they receive basic housing allowance to offset the cost of rent, it is typically not enough to offset the high cost of living, Springer said. He noted inflation has hit many basic costs, such as rent, mortgages and utilities.  

“It’s not just the cost of groceries,” he said, but supplementing a family’s budget with food can help them meet their other needs. 

Mt. Carmel helps to meet those needs in the veteran and military community with weekly food distribution that started during the pandemic and just kept going with food provided by Care and Share, said Bob McLaughlin, executive director of Mt. Carmel. In recent weeks, the nonprofit has seen an increase in demand and expects the needs to persist through the holidays. 

To help meet the need during the holiday week, Mt. Carmel facilitated the distribution of 850 turkeys along with side dishes across the bases. The majority of turkeys went out to Fort Carson, but the First Sergeants’ Councils at the Air Force Academy, and Peterson and Schriever also received turkeys to distribute.

The North Colorado Springs Rotary Club, a group of 39 people, donated $10,000 to purchase some of the turkeys, said Jim Medalie, president of the club.

 “We recognized there is a lot of need in the community, especially with the shutdown,” Medalie said. 

Meeting shutdown needs

During the shutdown, the First Sergeants’ Councils at the Air Force Academy and Peterson and Schriever Space Force bases also worked to help connect those in need with help. 

Senior Master Sgt. David Martinez said, at the academy, the council worked to ensure civilians working without pay, such as the child care workers and food service workers in Mitchell Hall, received food, gas and gift cards for other essentials, like diapers.  

The council set up two food pantries to help meet the needs, one at the community center and one in Mitchell Hall, he said.

The councils exist across Air Force bases and run outreach programs called Operation Warm Heart to help take care of airmen most in need, he said. 

For example, the council will financially assist an airman who has a death in the family go home if they don’t have any other options for help. 

 “We usually meet people at their worst,” Martinez said. 

Similarly, the Peterson and Schriever council helped a military member who lost all his personal belongings in a fire while he was moving to town, said Master Sgt. Bernie Torres, the first sergeant for Combat Forces Command.  

During the shutdown at Peterson and Schreiver, the senior airmen with the council worked to make sure those in need were connected with the right resources, such as food pantries and possible loan options, said Senior Master Sgt. Britney Pociatek, the president of the council. 

Family support through Christmas

To support families through Christmas, the councils are planning angel trees for families who need extra help across the academy, Peterson and Schriever to provide gifts for children. 

Those who want to help take tags off the trees with details about gifts children would like and then purchase those gifts. 

“Anything that we could do to make sure that the holidays are a little bit less stressful, that is always a priority,” Torres said. 

The Peterson and Schriever First Sergeants’ Council is also working with the spouses club on base to give cookies to the hundreds of airmen in the dorms during the holidays.

During the holidays at the Air Force Academy, the council members take the place of Salvation Army bell ringers at the commissary to raise money to take care of airmen during the year, Martinez said. 

To support their efforts, the Peterson and Schriever council largely relies on the military community for donations, Torres said, although they are interested in more external partnerships. 

“For the most part, it’s funded by us to support us,” Torres said.