The US Department of Homeland Security has been unfunded since February 14, which means its employees across America are in their fifth week of working without pay. This is the third government shutdown in less than a year to impact the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents who keep us safe at airports. To help them between paychecks, The FruitGuys has delivered free groceries to five airports nationwide, with more in the works.
From February 26 to March 12, representatives from The FruitGuys arrived at airports in Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland, Philadelphia, and Atlanta with truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables. We delivered 783 pounds of produce to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, 2,077.5 pounds to the Los Angeles International Airport, 661 pounds to the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, 144 pounds to the Philadelphia International Airport, and 708.5 pounds to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport—that’s 4,374 pounds total!
Those free groceries helped feed about 5,150 TSA agents. Between the five airports, agents unboxed hundreds of free boxes of grocery staples like potatoes, carrots, onions, bananas, apples, oranges, pears, celery, peppers, tangelos, and more.
“Working without pay is a huge ask, so we want to do anything we can to make that feel easier. Even if our donations only lift a small percentage of the burden on the people who are doing the important work of keeping our country safe, that matters,” said Julie Collins, director of marketing for The FruitGuys, adding, “We want to do our part.”
Julie is working with The FruitGuys’ customer service team to coordinate the donations. This isn’t the first time they’ve collaborated to gift fresh produce to federal workers. During the government shutdown in the fall of 2025, The FruitGuys delivered free groceries to 200 TSA agents at the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport to help them get through the crisis.
“Fighting hunger is at the core of The FruitGuys’ mission,” Julie explained. “We’re in the business of delivering fruit and snacks to people so they can have a healthier workday, so feeding these agents who are working without pay feels like a really natural connection between all of the things we focus on.”
As a Certified B Corp, The FruitGuys believes in using business as a force for good. That means supporting our communities through tough times in addition to running our year-round GoodWorks program, which includes weekly food donations to people in need and annual grants to small farms.
“We’re planning to continue these donations for as long as we can while the shutdown lasts. Right now, I’m helping coordinate a donation to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for 1,000 agents, and we’ll just keep going from there,” Julie said.
You can learn more about The FruitGuys’ GoodWorks program and what it means to be a B Corp on our website.
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