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With no end to the federal shutdown in sight, food pantries across the U.S. are bracing for increased demand. That includes a food pantry in Grand Canyon National Park. Adrian Skabelund with member station KNAU reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Well, that's what it says.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: No, no.
ADRIAN SKABELUND, BYLINE: Perched on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, the historic hotels and restaurants of Grand Canyon Village cater to nearly 5 million visitors annually. But well away from the bustle of the rim, tucked between a mule corral and housing for park employees and concessionaires, sits a small tin-roofed building.
HEATHER LAPRE: This is what I got to...
SKABELUND: Inside, Heather Lapre is moving empty milk crates.
LAPRE: I have - I'll have more - this all filled up by tonight, but I've got diapers and feminine hygiene products and...
SKABELUND: She's the pantry's only full-time employee, coordinating volunteers, taking in deliveries and distributing food. It's a branch of Flagstaff Family Food Center 80 miles away and mostly serves the hundreds of employees who flock to work at the park for just a few months each summer. It's already been a busy year, but with the shutdown, she's bracing for more.
LAPRE: I'm ready for an increase. I'm thinking about my delivery I'm expecting next week because that'll be 11, 12 days in.
SKABELUND: Grand Canyon National Park is still open, but no one is collecting entrance fees. Most park staff are now furloughed, but essential employees like law enforcement continue to work without pay. Lapre says if this shutdown lasts a month or more as it did last time, the effects could be dire.
LAPRE: It fills me with slightly a little bit of dread, to be honest. I don't - I am not used to thinking in terms of that long.
SKABELUND: Bill Wade leads the Association of National Park Rangers. He was superintendent of Virginia's Shenandoah National Park during the 1995, '96 shutdown.
BILL WADE: I think that one lasted over two pay periods. So there were, you know, two paychecks that didn't come in.
SKABELUND: He saw firsthand the difficult position staff were put in.
WADE: Some of the lower paid employees who were living like a lot of other Americans these days - you know, paycheck to paycheck - started having real financial problems and finding it hard to take care of their families and so forth.
SKABELUND: Aubrey Labarre is a seasonal employee at Grand Canyon.
AUBREY LABARRE: I don't want there to be a shutdown. I don't like seeing my friends, my coworkers struggling to make ends meet, worrying about whether or not - when they're going to get their next paycheck. Who knows how long this is going to last?
SKABELUND: Labarre's job wrapped up just two days before the shutdown hit, and she makes clear she's speaking as a private citizen. Like Bill Wade, she worries the shutdown could discourage young people from pursuing careers with the National Park Service. Or worse, the Trump administration has said it may fire furloughed workers if the shutdown persists.
LABARRE: I've been working seasonally for the park service for years, and I'm worried there might not be anything to come back to.
SKABELUND: In the meantime, the pantry is keeping partners in Flagstaff and Phoenix on speed dial in case it needs additional food. For NPR News, I'm Adrian Skabelund in Flagstaff, Arizona. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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