‘This is truly a gift’: Fairchild Food Pantry receives $15,000 to help food-insecure military families

Washington state Rep. Leonard Christian fought back tears Thursday while describing the financial hardship he faced as a young husband and father serving in the Air Force while working other jobs to support his family.

Speaking at Fairchild Air Force Base, Christian said he eventually swallowed his pride and sought government food assistance to make ends meet.

“I work tirelessly for veterans’ issues, and I want to make sure that our veterans don’t have to have the struggles that I went through,” said Christian, a Spokane Valley Republican.

Hunger relief organizations and others on Thursday donated a $15,000 check to Fairchild Food Pantry to help service members and their families receive the food they need.

The organizations included Second Harvest Inland Northwest, Instacart, Washington Military Family Hunger Coalition, Food Lifeline, Seattle Seahawks, Delta Airlines, Feeding America and Raytheon Technologies Corporation.

“It takes many hands to address the hunger situation in the U.S., especially and particularly our folks in uniform,” said Eric Williams, of Second Harvest.

Chrystal Ortega, executive director at Feed Spokane and a former servicewoman at Fairchild, said 14 to 24% of military members face food insecurity. Enlisted airmen and noncommissioned officers with less than two years of service make about $2,000 to $3,000 per month. Low-ranking airmen typically sleep at Fairchild dormitories and eat at the dining facility.

In addition to their base pay, service members can receive housing and grocery allowances based on their rank and whether they have dependents like a spouse or children.

Lawmakers last month passed the National Defense Authorization Act that included a 5.2% pay increase for military members, the largest raise for troops in more than 20 years.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, said Thursday that military members and their families consistently mention at the annual Congressional Military Family Caucus summit how they experience food insecurity.

McMorris Rodgers and U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Georgia, are co-chairs of the caucus. The summit allows military families and leaders to discuss the unique challenges military families face and how lawmakers can address them.

“The fact that any military family is struggling to put food on the table is absolutely alarming, and we must do better,” McMorris Rodgers said.

The congresswoman highlighted Thursday two bills she supports – the Military Family Nutrition Access Act and Military Food Security Act – that would exclude military housing allowances from income when determining eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

McMorris Rodgers said she and U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, D-California, are leading the Military Dependents School Meal Eligibility Act to remove the basic allowance for housing from the military’s calculation of income for eligibility in free and reduced-price school meal programs.

“My belief is that those who put on the uniform shouldn’t be worrying about food for their families, and that’s why these bipartisan bills are so important,” she said.

The Fairchild Food Pantry, which is run by volunteers and led by director Sara Jemo, started in 2021 and has grown from a closet to its own room at Fairchild.

Jemo, whose husband is a pilot at Fairchild, called the $15,000 donation a “lifeline.” She said the money will allow the pantry to purchase a commercial refrigerator and freezer, transport donated food and obtain more food for military families.

She said the pantry receives food donations from organizations like Feed Spokane and Second Harvest, as well as from food drives, but it’s not enough to feed Fairchild families in need.

The money will also help the pantry become a “certified food establishment,” so it can provide perishable foods, not just nonperishable foods that are stocked on the pantry’s shelves.

“This is truly a gift, and we are very grateful for (the money),” Jemo said.

Aaron Czyzewski, director of advocacy and public policy for Food Lifeline, presented the physically enormous check to Jemo Thursday. He said the check represented multiple organizations coming together and was the least they could do.

“(We) want to make sure that the full expression of all we’re experiencing here today is brought into some tangible form so that this incredible space can be what it deserves to be for the people who deserve only the best,” Czyzewski said.

State Rep. Suzanne Schmidt, R-Spokane Valley, also attended Thursday’s celebration at the Fairchild Food Pantry.

“It’s astounding that families of military are experiencing food insecurities when you’re putting your life and your family’s lives on the line for us every single day,” she said.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on January 5, 2024, to correct the spelling of Fairchild Food Pantry Director Sara Jemo’s last name.