My guess is that by the time this column gets published, we still won’t have an agreement in congress to fund the federal budget. According to Congress.gov, Utah has 33,961 federal employees in the state and Hill Air Force Base is Utah’s largest single site employer. The impact of both civilian and military personnel not receiving paychecks due to the shutdown not only affects individuals and families but the towns in and around the base, including Ogden, Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy and Sunset.

“O-Town” as locals like to call it has always been a military base since the white man came to this area. It started out in 1845 as Fort Buenaventura, founded by Miles Goodyear and then purchased by Mormon pioneers a year later.  Back then food was seasonal and settlers and military both relied on hunting and trade with trappers and natives. But hey, if you arrived in Winter at the fort it wasn’t easy to grow anything so foraging around the area was also necessary. The Fort is now a state park along the Ogden River, and the Air Force Base is about 12 miles south between Clearfield and Sunset.

Given the shutdown, civilians and military alike aren’t getting paid and must rely on modern day foraging, meaning relying on food banks, local charities, friends and family to find food and sundries. The base has a food bank though Airman’s Attic which provides not only food but clothing and household items to military members and their families. There’s a walk-in pantry that’s accessible to any base ID holder and a referral pantry that requires a referral from a first sergeant or the Military and Family Wellness Center which can provide more extensive support.  The non-profit Knights of Columbus also help coordinate food donations at the base. According to a KSL report this past March 1 in 4 military families were facing food insecurity at the base. Given no paychecks for the past three weeks that number certainly has gone up and the foodbanks are at an all time low in and around the base.

If you are in need, feedingamerica.org is a great website to find food banks around the country and in Utah. When I typed in my zip code it immediately sent me to utahfoodbank.org which directed me to type in my address or zip code and I was directed to 20 different food pantries, churches and non-profits. So yeah, at least there are options to get food but there’s still rent, mortgage payments, utilities, car payments, etc. My best advice if you are about to go late on any payment, pick up the phone and call the landlord or vendor and tell them you have no paychecks and ask them if they have any programs to miss a payment or make smaller payments until Congress funds the country again.

The last government shutdown was 35 days in 2019 during the first presidency of Donald Trump. Let’s see how long this one goes-ugh!