RWU, food-service provider offer hot meals amid government shutdown

ACTIVE-DUTY MEMBERS of the U.S. Coast Guard and their families receive free hot meals courtesy of Roger Williams University and the school’s food-service provider, Bon Appétit Management, amid the partial federal government shutdown on Jan. 15. / COURTESY ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY

BRISTOL – Approximately 70 active-duty members of the U.S. Coast Guard and their families lined up to receive free hot meals from Roger Williams University and its food-service provider, Bon Appétit Management Co., at a charity event at the school on Jan. 15.

Inspired by those families affected by the four-week, partial federal government shutdown – many of whom have not been paid in nearly a month and have bills piling up – the university invited any Rhode Island or southeastern Massachusetts active-duty Coast Guard member and their families to campus for a dinner from 5-7 p.m.

“We are pleased to welcome active-duty members of the Coast Guard and their families to our campus for a hot meal,” RWU Interim President Andy Workman said in a statement. The school “[educates] many students from the military, and we are glad to do our part by providing support at this difficult time.”

While U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps members’ pay is not affected by the shutdown because the Department of Defense remains fully funded, the Coast Guard is run by the Department of Homeland Security, which is one of the agencies that saw its budget lapse in the shutdown.

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In response to the event, James Gubata, Bon Appétit’s general manager at RWU, said: “In the Ocean State, we have a high density of Coast Guard members. … So, we are responding to a need in the community and opening our dining hall in a time of need.”

Gubata said a family-style dinner was served, with the hope of “trying to create a sense of family” among the school and local community members.

RWU plans to host a second dinner in support of the Coast Guard on Monday, Jan. 21, if the shutdown lasts that long.

Any active-duty members of the Coast Guard in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, as well as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees and their families, are invited to the upper campus dining hall on RWU’s Bristol campus for dinner from 5-7 p.m. They are asked to enter through the main entrance off Old Ferry Road and bring their federal identification.

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.

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