I lost my job in July due to COVID-19, said Rachel Szabo, a military spouse.
She s been out of work for nearly five months. Szabo is the wife of a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division. She picks up groceries monthly from Fort Bragg s Armed Services YMCA. The couple is expecting their first baby on Christmas Day. I ve always been someone who has paid for everything myself. Paid my way through school. Paid my own student loans, which I had a ton of. That s where all my unemployment goes. It s truly one income for us, Szabo said.
While service members often fight for our country, many of their families are taking on another battle during this pandemic: keeping their families fed.
Updated December 18, 2020 6:59 p.m. EST
By Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter
The Armed Forces YMCA on post provides food, clothing and other services for families in need. We saw a lot of families in need, said Michelle Baumgarten, Fort Bragg YMCA director.
Rachel Szabo lost her job as an interior designer earlier this year. Her husband is in the 82nd Airborne Division. The couple is expecting their first child next week. Szabo says the YMCA food bank has helped the family get through some very tough financial times. I usually come once a month to pick up groceries, and it s a variety of different things, she said.
Pandemic Leaves More Military Families Seeking Food Assistance
Veterans are in a similar situation, hunger advocates and service organizations have found.
April Reibestein, a volunteer at the Armed Services Y.M.C.A. at Fort Bragg, N.C., preparing orders for contactless pickup at a food bank serving military families on the base.Credit.Travis Dove for The New York Times
Dec. 16, 2020
WASHINGTON Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the United States, has all the trappings of a small American city: shopping centers, a barber shop and social clubs. In a sign of the times, it also has a food bank.