Military families across the country are feeling the strain of the ongoing government shutdown, facing delayed paychecks and the looming cutoff of SNAP benefits.
Here in western Washington, one local nonprofit is stepping up to help those who serve our country.
For Navy veteran Ladale Herron, serving didn’t stop when he took off the uniform. His mission continues through Mission Outdoors, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans, active-duty members, and their families.
“I rather enjoyed it. It was a lot of memories, and the connections tend to be lifetime,” Herron said. “I think I do have a passion for serving. I think that kind of got inherited down to me.”
The federal government has now been shut down for more than three weeks. Herron says he’s already hearing troubling reports from military chaplains.
“Family members have been seeking a little bit of assistance, just with the fear of the government shutdown and the concern of not receiving payment,” Herron said.
Herron said some service members are even being turned away when seeking help.
“Commissary gift cards should be actually should be an avenue, but because of the government shutdown, even those are not getting approved within at least that purview of that chaplain, and it was, it was a little bit disheartening,” Herron said.
Herron says the chaplain is often the last resort when families have exhausted other resources. He estimates at least 10 families have already been denied assistance.
Knowing what these families are up against, Herron decided to take action. Mission Outdoors raised $3,000 over the weekend to buy commissary gift cards for families in need with plans to distribute them soon.
“I’m looking for more,” Herron said. “You know, when I get another $3,000, move to another base, then another $3,000, another base, then come back around to the first base. We started with a different unit chaplain, and maybe we can impact our region.”
Herron isn’t working alone. George Fillis, who isn’t a veteran himself but serves as a board member, says this is his way of giving back.
“It’s frustrating, for sure, especially being our military. We should be taking care of them first,” Fillis said.
While some lawmakers have downplayed the effects of the shutdown, Herron said the financial strain is very real.
“I think any military member, or any human being, missing a paycheck, whether a payback is going to be effective or not, can be affected,” Herron said. “You never quite know those impacts can be mentally, emotionally tough, especially if you’ve got a family at the house impacts are real.”
Both men say the financial toll of the shutdown goes far beyond paychecks. It affects service members’ mental health and morale.
“Impacts are 100% real, and you can feel a bit isolated in the military environment anyway,” Herron said. “Isolation can lead to depression. Depression can lead to potential thoughts of self-harm.”
“We lose over 22 a day to suicide, and that’s absolutely what we’re trying to avoid,” Fillis said.
Herron has a message for families struggling during the shutdown.
“Unfortunately, you’re not alone,” Herron said. “When I was deployed, the very last thing I should be concerned about is, is my family eating at home? You know, like that shouldn’t be. So don’t give up. The moment you feel isolated, talk to somebody, keep talking to somebody.”
Herron’s biggest fear is that prolonged shutdowns and financial instability could discourage the next generation from serving.
“People will not want to serve,” Herron said. “The next generation will lose trust in serving the country.”
Mission Outdoors is also raising money through a Corvette raffle happening December 20 at George’s BLT in Bonney Lake. A portion of the proceeds will go toward helping active service members and their families during the shutdown.
Raffle tickets start at $100 for one, or $1,000 for 65 tickets. Fillis said some community members have even pooled money to buy tickets together. “It’s kind of fun to watch. A lot of people that I’ve sold tickets to say they’re going to donate the car back.”
For those wanting to help, Herron encourages donations through Mission Outdoors’ website, missionoutdoors.org.
The commissary gift card denial due to shutdown restrictions demonstrates how bureaucratic freezes create cascading effects where even emergency assistance mechanisms designed for exactly these situations become unavailable to families in crisis.
The $3,000 raised over a single weekend indicates strong community support for military families, though the amount provides only modest relief when divided among multiple families needing hundreds of dollars each for groceries and essentials.
Herron’s strategy of rotating $3,000 increments between different base chaplains and units maximizes impact across the region while acknowledging the fundraising limitations that prevent simultaneously helping all affected families.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s proximity to Seattle makes western Washington military families particularly vulnerable during shutdowns, with thousands of active-duty personnel and dependents facing financial uncertainty when federal paychecks stop.
The 22 veteran suicides per day statistic Fillis references represents national averages that correlate with financial stress, isolation, and depression, conditions the shutdown exacerbates for active-duty families already managing deployment separations and military life challenges.
Herron’s deployed service member perspective about worrying whether families are eating at home captures the additional psychological burden shutdowns place on troops whose focus should remain on missions rather than home-front financial survival.
The Corvette raffle at George’s BLT in Bonney Lake demonstrates creative fundraising beyond traditional donation appeals, offering participants tangible prizes while supporting military family relief efforts through ticket sales.
The $1,000 for 65 tickets pricing structure (about $15.38 per ticket) provides volume discounts encouraging larger purchases and group pooling that maximizes fundraising while making participation accessible at the $100 single-ticket level.
The donor practice of winning the Corvette then donating it back creates multiplier effects where the same vehicle generates repeated fundraising cycles through re-raffles or auctions, amplifying charitable impact.
Herron’s concern about recruiting impacts reflects broader military retention challenges where financial instability during shutdowns contradicts recruitment promises of stable careers and benefits, undermining trust in the military as a reliable employer.
