The House of Representatives at the Capitol is illuminated at dawn in Washington, Oct. 6, 2025. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

As a Congressional shutdown looms delaying pay for federal workers, a group of volunteers on Maui is planning a food giveaway.

According to event organizers, Operation Kokua Maui Ohana will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Hawaii Army National Guard Armory in Kihei to distribute food to federal workers caught in the political gridlock.

Volunteers will be on site to assist with setup, registration, distribution and cleanup. Food will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. For questions or to volunteer, email HalekoaMaui@gmail.com or call (808) 359-1616.

“If it’s to pay for lighting or food, we don’t want anyone to go hungry,” said Sharon Banaag, an event organizer. “Hopefully, this will give a little assistance.”

She explained that her own family is affected because her husband is in the U.S. military, and other federal workers on Maui, including essential employees in the U.S. Coast Guard, Space Force, TSA and FAA, could feel the pain as well.

Heather Campbell, a 39-year-old who lives outside Montgomery, Alabama, lost her job working for a food bank over the summer because of federal funding cuts, and now her husband who serves as an officer in the Air Force is facing the prospect of missing his next paycheck because of the government shutdown.

If lawmakers in Washington don’t step in, Campbell’s husband won’t get paid on Wednesday. Because the couple lacks the savings to cover all their expenses, they expect to survive on credit cards to pay the mortgage and feed their three children, racking up debt as the political stalemate drags on.

“You’re asking us to put our lives on the line or the people we love to put their lives on the line,” said Campbell. “And you’re not even going to give us our paycheck. What? There is a lot of broken trust there.”

Paying the troops has support, but it’s unclear when a deal might pass

When asked if he would support a bill to pay the troops, President Donald Trump said, “that probably will happen.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Trump said Wednesday. “Our military is always going to be taken care of.”

Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican and former Navy helicopter pilot, has introduced a measure to maintain military and Coast Guard salaries, and it has bipartisan co-sponsors.

The House is closed for business until next week, leaving two days to take action before Wednesday’s payday. Missed paychecks for military service members are among the most serious pressure points in the shutdown, causing political pain for the lawmakers. Several proposals have been floated for voting on stand-alone legislation that would ensure no interruption in pay, but those are not expected to be brought up for consideration, for now.

Amanda Scott, whose husband is an Air Force officer in Colorado, said the uncertainty goes beyond the stress of just getting by — it chips away at the military’s ability to retain the best people and their readiness to fight.

“How ready and lethal are you if you don’t know if you can feed your family?” said Scott. “A lot of these service members are highly skilled and can go out and make much more money in the civilian sector.”

Aid is available for service members, but it’s not enough for some families

Support is available for military families through nonprofits and charities. For example, some financial institutions are offering zero-interest loans, while each military branch has a relief organization.

Across Hawaii, the situation is no different. Hawaiian Electric announced this week that it will be offering interest-free payment options to customers experiencing financial hardship due to the federal stalemate. To inquire about bill paying options, Hawaiian Electric customers can submit an online request or call (808) 871-9777 for Maui or (808) 871-8461 for Molokai and Lanai.

“There are so many things that Congress can’t agree on right now,” said Kate Horrell, the wife of a Navy veteran whose Washington, D.C., company provides financial advice to military families. “I don’t want to assume that they’re going to be able to agree on this.”

Jen Cluff, whose husband recently left the Air Force, said her family was on a food aid program during the 2019 shutdown. But even the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, which helps more than 6 million low-income mothers and young children, would run out of federal money within two weeks unless the shutdown ends, experts say.

“We made so little and had three young children,” said Cluff, 42, of San Antonio. “We were definitely a family that had very little buffer.”

If Congress had not passed legislation to pay troops during the last shutdown, missing more than two paychecks “would have been catastrophic for us,” she said.

“Resentment can grow quickly,” Cluff said of the shutdown, adding that “the general public, and many in government, truly don’t understand the daily sacrifices our military members and their families make for our country.”

Wider effects feared in military-heavy areas

The economic impact will ripple through regions with large military footprints, like coastal Virginia, home to the nation’s largest Navy base and several other installations.

The area’s 88,000 active duty service members and their families likely have pulled back significantly on spending, said Rick Dwyer, executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, an advocacy group.

“Think about service members who are deployed right now around the world,” said Dwyer, who served in the Air Force during previous shutdowns. “They’re having to wonder if their families are going to be able to pay the rent, the child care bills, the car payments.”

According to the state, Hawaii is home to more than 250,000 military personnel and their families with an estimated 40,000 to 48,500 active-duty service members as well as thousands of National Guard and reservists.

A shutdown contingency plan posted on the Pentagon’s website cites the use of funds to continue military operations from Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill. The Congressional Budget Office has said money appropriated to the Defense Department under the new law could be used to pay active duty personnel.

It was not clear if the funding would be used for that. The Pentagon said Thursday that it could not provide information “at this time.”

Its contingency plan says it will “continue to defend the nation and conduct ongoing military operations” as well as activities “necessary for the safety of human life and the protection of property.”

Listed among the highest priorities are securing the U.S.-Mexico border, operations in the Middle East and the future Golden Dome missile defense program. The plan also noted that “child care activities required for readiness” would continue.