Local Donato’s Pizza and Pepsi firms and an international Christian charity are helping to feed TSA workers at John Glenn Columbus International Airport who have been working without pay since February.
Local Donatos Pizza franchise partner Robert E. Lee III and G&J Pepsi, an independent Pepsi bottler and distributor in Columbus, is providing free meals and drinks to Transportation Security Administration workers at John Glenn Columbus International Airport every Tuesday and Saturday until the current shutdown ends.
TSA employees at John Glenn Columbus can receive a free 10-inch, one-topping pizza and 20-ounce Pepsi by showing their badge at one of the two Donatos locations at the airport in Concourse A or C.
“This effort reflects the Columbus community’s commitment to supporting essential workers during a challenging time,” a news release on behalf of the two local franchisees states.
On March 20, six volunteers with the Rapid Relief Team, an international Christian charity, handed out about 200 meals around lunchtime to TSA workers at John Glenn Columbus, according to Amelia Fenn, a spokesperson with the charity’s public relations firm.
Fred Kenimer, a local ambassador with the charity, said a TSA employee reached out to them to set up the event earlier this month. The Rapid Relief Team had previously given out meals to TSA workers at John Glenn Columbus International during the full government shutdown in the fall, Kenimer said.
Members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church established the Rapid Relief Team in 2013, according to its website. The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church is a Protestant sect which reports more than 54,000 members worldwide.
In addition, the airport has set up a donation box where flyers and the public can leave gift cards to help out the TSA workers.
What’s going on with the TSA and the shutdown?
TSA workers have been working without pay since Feb. 13, when funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed after Congress failed to reach an agreement. Congressional Democrats are demanding reforms to ICE like banning face masks and requiring body cameras, while Congressional Republicans and the White House have opposed reforms.
Republican lawmakers said March 24 that they are close to reaching an agreement to fund DHS without funding ICE. Republicans could later fund ICE through the Senate’s reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority. President Trump has not publicly signed off on any deal, maintaining his SAVE Act to add requirements to voter identification, is his top legislative priority.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Donatos, G&J Pepsi, Christian group help TSA workers at Columbus airport
Reporting by Nathan Hart, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
