OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:29 AM – Friday, March 20, 2026
Pittsburgh International Airport has partnered with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to open a food pantry for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees who have been working without pay for weeks amid the partial government shutdown.
The partnership began on Thursday.
“We’ve deployed our operations team to, as well as our volunteer ambassadors, to make sure that people are in the correct lines, to make sure that people know when they need to check luggage, to make sure people are aware of REAL ID requirements, things that TSA, you know, might do if they were fully staffed. We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to assist, to help streamline that security experience, as well,” said Bob Kerlik, director of public affairs for Pittsburgh International Airport.
The airport will be providing free lunches twice a week.
“Obviously, they’re here 24 over seven, 365. So, it’s very important that we do everything we can to support them during this time, whether it’s providing free lunches twice a week, providing the food pantry with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. We want to do everything we can to support them,” Kerlik said.
The food pantry has stocked over 8,000 pounds of prepackaged meal boxes and fresh produce for the affected employees.
“These workers, they’re essential to keep our region not only safe but moving. If TSA workers weren’t at the airport, no one would be traveling. So, it’d be a big gridlock there. So, it’s our job is not only an organization, but a community to support our neighbors in a time of uncertainty,” said Brian Gulish, vice president of marketing and communications at Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
“We’re here to partner with the airport as long as it’s needed,” Gulish added.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been shut down for five weeks now, beginning on the Valentine’s Day holiday, when the Senate failed to reach a funding agreement.
Lawmakers in the upper chamber initially passed a two-week bill to cover the DHS temporarily while they attempted to hash out a new budget. However, Democrats have refused to fund the department until their proposals for tighter restrictions and more oversight on immigration enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), are met.
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