D.C. National Guard members and their families lined up for free Thanksgiving meals at the D.C. Armory last week during an annual event hosted by Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that supports the military community. 

As part of their Holiday Meals for Military program, the organization provided families with all the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner — stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and more. Operation Homefront also distributed Harris Teeter gift cards so families could purchase their protein of choice, whether it’s turkey, ham or chicken. In total, the organization distributed 400 meal kits and grocery gift cards to pre-registered service members and military families. 

With grocery prices rising and many service members still feeling the financial strain of the recent shutdown, the organization says demand for assistance has surged — food requests alone are up 57% this year.

“Our case work is up — quadruple — what it was 30 days ago. Undoubtedly, the economic times are difficult for everyone in our country, I think that’s greater with the military,” Vivian Dietrich, Operation Homefront senior director, told Federal News Network. 

Operation Homefront, founded in 2002, serves military families nationwide by providing financial, emotional and social support through programs designed to keep households “strong, stable and secure,” Dietrich said. Financial assistance, however, is the backbone of the organization’s work, helping lower-ranking service members cover urgent expenses such as car repairs, rent and utility bills before these short-term problems spiral into long-term financial crises.

Through its Critical Financial Assistance program, Operation Homefront offers grants — not loans — and pays vendors on behalf of families. Caseworkers also review a family’s full financial situation to ensure they address the root of the problem.

“When we do our case work, often it’s somebody calling at the nth hour because the military is very proud. And generally, when they call, you’re at the point that you’re desperate, you need support, and our case workers are highly trained social workers. They spend time studying their finances. We work with them on how to manage their money and help them move forward,” Dietrich said. 

But food remains the organization’s top request for assistance, Dietrich said. 

Surveys conducted by organizations like Blue Star Families consistently find that food insecurity among active-duty families remains higher than the national average.

A number of factors contribute to military families’ financial vulnerability. Service members move dozens of times throughout their career, making it difficult for their spouses to find and maintain employment. Despite years of advocacy and policy efforts, the unemployment rate for active-duty military spouses has held stubbornly at around 22% for quite some time.  

Service members also face significant upfront costs when moving to a new base — military families spend an average of about $8,000 out of pocket during each move, which causes them to dip into their savings or accrue credit card debt.

During the recent government shutdown, military families were turning up at food banks in greater numbers — the Armed Services YMCA, for example, reported a 30% to 75% spike in demand at its food pantries near military installations. 

“Number one request for us is food — that has quadrupled right out of the top. But generally, it’s food, rent, maybe car payments, utilities — the day-to-day expenses that we all have. But it isn’t uncommon that there was some type of crisis that occurred that caused them to fall behind. A car would break down, or someone is sick and they had to miss work and they didn’t have pay. Or in the military, you can be deployed. You can be out on a training mission. And then if you have children, where’s the childcare?” Dietrich said.

“In general, it’s the basic expenses that we all live with, and if you don’t catch it at the very beginning, it really does become a crisis, and a crisis that can last for years. And our goal is to stay focused, get them strong, secure and stable,” she added.

Operation Homefront provides holiday meals for military families throughout the year, not just at Thanksgiving. 

The post Operation Homefront distributes holiday meals to Guard members as food requests surge first appeared on Federal News Network.