Military families coming together during shutdown

Thursday was the 27th day of longest shutdown in U.S. Government history, and the costs on local families are mounting.

More than 800,000 government workers are reporting to work, without receiving their promised paychecks.

MORE: Supply drive planned for Jacksonville Coast Guard families

Families like Kimberly McMullen’s are trying to stay afloat.

“It’s just hard, where do we go from here?” she said. “We’ve got four kids of our own. How are we supposed to support our kids?”

McMullen’s husband is active duty Coast Guard at Kings Bay.

Her family, like hundreds of other local Coast Guard families, didn’t receive a paycheck this week.

“That’s pretty much when reality just set, and it was devastating,” she said.

The military community surrounding King’s Bay has already collected food, toiletries, and other supplies for Coast Guard families.

Organizers say the response has been overwhelming following just one social media post.

Bennett Chevrolet is one of the collection sites, along with five others in the Kingsland area.

Organizers say if you’d like to donate food, toiletries, or gas cards, they can be dropped off at the dealership.

The donations will be distributed to Coast Guard families later this week.

“It just brings me to tears,” said McMullen, “all the things this community has donated to us.”

Cox Media Group