Food Pantry Feeds Coast Guard Countrywide

When the government shut down, the Coast Guard kept working. For 35 days, personnel worked without knowing when their next paycheck would arrive. The Cape May County community swiftly assisted the local Coast Guard by providing donations of non-perishables, diapers, formula and gift cards.
Donations came in from all over Cape May County and were delivered to the food pantry run by the Jersey Cape Military Spouses’ Club. Coast Guard spouse and club member, Jessica Manfre, took helm and went from collecting donations at her house and bringing them to the base, to helping coordinate efforts to expand the pantry into the base’s shipping and receiving warehouse.
Manfre saw the initial response, but was not prepared for the exceptional response.
Manfre and her family have lived in the Cape May community for three years and she has been involved in the Jersey Cape Military Spouses’ Club since they landed in Cape May. Her husband, Scott Manfre, is a Senior Chief and has served in the Coast Guard for 18 years.
Manfre’s nature is to care for others, so for her to watch her family worry during the shutdown as well her friends, she knew she had to help out where she could.
“The whole thing was so emotional and so stressful,” Manfre said. “My son would ask to spend money and I had to say no. I not only took on the stress my family was going through as well as what my friends were experiencing. That’s just my nature.”
Manfre followed the news and she knew the shutdown would be long. The income from her part-time job was utilized to help make ends meet.
“My husband said it’s not going to last and I told him, it’s happening and it’s going to be bad,” Manfre said. Frugality and budgeting were important while the shutdown continued.
The food pantry exists at all time of the year, but during the shutdown it expanded from a small closet space, to a warehouse. Four industrial refrigerators and two deep freezers were brought in, to store perishable items such as meat donations. Manfre and fellow Coast Guard spouses would spend time organizing the donations, often with their children running underfoot. The pantry expanded from the closet, through hallways leading into the warehouse.
The active duty Coast Guard personnel cleared everything out of their shipping rooms and it was incredible what could be stored in there. The active duty members in shipping and receiving were working and helping out, despite the pantry having completely taken over. Manfre’s children as well as other spouses children kids were running around the warehouse as items were organized.
Manfre and the other spouses utilized a group text, discussing logistics and pantry plans. Every day group texts would share a new amazing thing as it happened. It was unbelievable to see one business after another step up to offer assistance.
Certain moments during the shutdown were humbling, for Manfre, who said she cried a lot during the shutdown. The kindness of people was an emotional experience.
“I will never forget when a marine widow in her 80s stopped by,” Manfre said. “She came to the pantry to bring a bag of diapers and wipes, saying she just had to come in even though she didn’t have much to give.”
Other memorable moments included people from Fort Dix visiting and various monetary donations, including one from the local VFW.
Helping Coast Guard countrywide
People were so passionate about showing up and volunteering. Donations not only brought food but the ability to help other families beyond the local area.
The many moving parts included donations which were able to be sent to Coast Guard countrywide.
Because of the immense amount of donations that arrived, Manfre said they let donors know that there would be leftovers to help benefit military families in places further away.
Donors were told that money which was not spent would be placed in a separate fund that would support future needs of Coast Guard members and their families. The Jersey Cape Military Spouses Club collaborated with the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association and the Coast Guard Community Foundation to be prepared if there was another shutdown.
“We are prepared and we know how to manage it and we learned from the many hiccups along the way,” Manfre said.
Manfre was nominated to be the Coast Guard Military Spouse of the Year, after her incredible efforts on the food pantry during the shutdown. The Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year® award recognizes military spouses’ important contributions and unwavering commitment to the military community and the country. The award gives recognition to military spouses from all branches of service. Manfre was named the District 5 winner initially and then went on to be named overall 2019 AFI Coast Guard Spouse of the Year.
“Jessica would be the first to say there was a lot of support from other military spouses,” Executive Director of the Coast Guard Foundation Mike Couch said. “In this circumstance, you need someone that was the face of the effort. Jessica was coordinating activities, sorting pantry goods…it was a group effort but she stepped in and took the lead.”
Cape May County truly embraced their Coast Guard Community and the Coast Guard Motto of “Semper Paratus” or “Always Ready” by helping the military community.
“All the good things which have come from the shutdown are amazing,” Manfre said. “The response has changed the narrative for the Coast Guard in terms of anything big they are doing being covered on the news. I don’t think it was this big before the shutdown.”
The appreciation for the Coast Guard is truly an uplifting feeling.