Food Assistance Lifts Weight Off Soldier and Family During Federal Shutdown
As federal lawmakers remained at a stalemate over government funding in mid-October, Army Staff Sgt. Jorge Martinez and his wife, Carolina, watched and worried from their home in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
Among the dozens of questions they had about the likelihood of working without pay, they knew one certainty: Their family’s budget did not have the reserves for a missed paycheck.
The Martinez family relies solely on Jorge’s income, and Carolina stays home with their daughters, Adriana and Angelina. Adriana is a 16-year-old high school junior. Angelina, 18, is taking a year off after completing high school.
“We didn’t find out we were getting paid until a day or two before,” he said. The uncertainty brought anxiety. “It’s like you’re swimming in the middle of the deep end of the pool, and you can’t reach bottom. It’s like you’re drowning.”
Jorge and Carolina stretch their paychecks to cover groceries and bills, but rising food and utility costs leave less and less for emergency expenses and extras. Medical expenses have also impacted their savings since Angelina was diagnosed recently with epilepsy. Appointments with her pediatric neurologist are a three-hour round-trip commute, and the family incurs costs for fuel, food, and parking.
“That causes emotional, physical, and financial stress,” he said of the early morning appointments.
As the stresses weighed on him, Jorge read about Operation Homefront’s Critical Financial Assistance Program® in a list of shutdown-related resources his chain of command shared. The national nonprofit offered emergency food gift cards during the shutdown as part of its mission to build strong, stable, and secure military families. Operation Homefront achieves its mission through relief and recurring family support programs designed to help military families overcome short-term challenges so they don’t become long-term hardships.
Since 2011, Operation Homefront has fulfilled nearly 60,000 requests and totaling more than $46 million in financial assistance.
During the October 2025 application period, caseworkers processed 1,757 CFA requests, a monthly record and a 50 percent increase year over year. Food assistance requests have increased 99 percent year over year.
Jorge wrestled with the decision to apply, even though he knew any amount would bring welcome relief in the uncertain times.
Learning that his family was approved for a $500 food card was a surprise and a relief.
“That’s going to go a long way” toward feeding the family of four and their two cats and a dog, Jorge said. Though they had already cut back on groceries, they typically spend $300 every 10 to 14 days at the store.
“We’re constantly under stress, and (donors) are providing a life jacket for us.” – Staff Sgt. Jorge Martinez, Army
“It has taken a weight off my shoulders,” he said. “Even now there’s a threat we’re not going to get paid on the next payday, but groceries are taken care of.”
Jorge joined the Army in 2008 after he and Carolina had their first daughter. Though he had dreamed of becoming a soldier in sixth grade, he took a different route after high school.
“I had been going down a bad path,” he said, adding that his childhood in Brownsville, Texas, was difficult. “I needed structure, and the Army provided that. The Army literally saved my life.”
He served two combat deployments to Afghanistan, where he slept with 11 other soldiers in a tent and showered with bottled water. During the first deployment ― from 2010 to 2011 ― a member of Jorge’s unit died in combat.
“That stays with you,” he said. “We go over there as one person, and we come back as someone completely different.”
In 2012, Jorge’s wife and daughters accompanied him to Baumholder Army Base in southwestern Germany. Being stationed in Europe allowed the Martinez family to travel to Spain and France, but not before another deployment separated them.
Almost immediately after arriving at Baumholder, Jorge deployed to Afghanistan for another combat mission.
“We took a lot of indirect fire, and I left a little bit of myself over there again,” he said.
Back in Germany, he was one of four soldiers chosen to drive the Army’s largest transport vehicle from Germany through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. He recalls with pride the warm greetings the Eastern Europeans extended as they crept along the narrow roads in the lane-consuming tank hauler.
In his 17 years as a soldier, Jorge’s work has ranged from his official job description as motor transport operator to gunner during two combat deployments to Afghanistan to platoon sergeant to assault school instructor and his current role as an instructor for advanced training for motor transport operators. He plans to continue serving as long as possible.
The soldier said he hopes Operation Homefront’s donors recognize how much their help means to military families.
“We’re constantly under stress, and they’re providing a life jacket for us,” he said.
