As shutdown drags on, a 'Coast Guard City' rallies

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/01/19/as-shutdown-drags-on-a-coast-guard-city-rallies/

As shutdown drags on, a ‘Coast Guard City’ rallies

By: Susan Haigh and Jennifer McDermott, The Associated Press ?  9 hours ago

NEW LONDON, Conn. — If the uniformed cadets milling about the local movie theaters and pizza joints didn’t make it obvious enough, a banner hanging from a downtown parking garage makes it crystal clear: New London is an official Coast Guard City. The pride is on display everywhere in this former whaling town of 27,000 people that, among other things, is home to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Station New London, which patrols the Long Island Sound. Now, the town's residents are rallying around their own as the partial government shutdown has left the Coast Guard — the only branch of the armed services that is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security rather than the Pentagon — out in the cold.

"The people have really just come together and said, 'hey, it's the Coast Guard's time. They need our help,'" said Troy Castineria as he pushed his shopping cart around a pop-up food pantry filled with donated, free goods. Both he and his wife Lauren are former active duty members of the Coast Guard who work at the academy. Both have been furloughed.

"A lot of people have lost faith in humanity. But this right here goes to show that we are appreciated and there are people to help when the time comes," he added, staring with amazement at the makeshift supermarket created by a coalition of local Coast Guard-related advocacy groups.

The free pantry is just one of several efforts big and small by area residents and businesses. At the popular Slice Pizza Bar, a chalkboard sign proclaims “Proudly serving our USCG” and offers a 15 percent discount to Coast Guard families. Castineria said the local utility in nearby Norwich has waived late fees for federal employees who are not being paid and can't cover their bills.

Separately, nurses at New London’s Lawrence and Memorial Hospital have been offering gift cards to needy families; a city activist plans to open her home on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a drop-off location for donations; local restaurants and other businesses are offering discounts, and local banks are providing no-interest loans to supplement lost paychecks; and the city’s police department and the U.S. Navy submarine base in nearby Groton have collected donations.
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