Community Sponsor, Shreveport-Bossier Military Affairs Council, is
launching the Currency of Caring Program for Barksdale Air Force Base airmen and military
families. This tokenized program is designed to reduce food insecurity amongst junior enlisted
airmen and military families. Our local participating restaurants – Jacquelyn’s Café, Rhino Coffee,
and Marilynn’s Place – will prepare and serve an entrée, side and drink to any military personnel
or families who present a Currency of Caring token; no questions asked. The potential impact is
a direct and indirect support of military family readiness, resilience and retention. This program,
in effect, will help reduce food insecurity, while increasing mental wellness, community
awareness, and providing human solutions to current human issues on our air force base
installation.
“The MAC is excited to introduce this new program to the community and BAFB. Currency for
Caring will introduce airmen to many eating establishments in our community by giving them a
meal with dignity. This program will also allow our local restaurants to gain great exposure with
our military community. I look forward to growing this program in our community and on the
installation,” said Trey Giglio, Shreveport-Bossier Military Affairs Council President & CEO.
Unfortunately, food insecurity in our military is not a new problem. Recently, Congress ordered
the Pentagon to study the prevalence of food insecurity in our military, and survey reports showed that roughly a quarter of our US active service members report struggling with getting enough
healthy food. Our national media has reported the same, reflecting that 25.8% of Army, Air Force,
Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel were food insecure and 15.4% of these were
active duty.* There seems to be a multitude of causes for this, which are still under review; and
certainly not an issue likely reversed with one solution. However, the Military Affairs Council
programs, like the Currency of Caring, will begin to help reduce stigmatisms of asking for support.
“We thank the local restaurants who have stepped up and offered to honor the Currency of Caring
tokens for our local BAFB airmen and families. If there are other restaurants interested in helping,
these gestures are certainly welcomed. So often members of our community will ask how they
can best support our military personnel, because it’s not always clear cut. The Shreveport-Bossier
Military Affairs Council has several ways to offer support with your monetary or time commitments
– considered the least we can do for those who serve to protect. This program allows us to remove
or reduce a significant stressor for military families, ultimately improving the family’s situation, and
allowing the military servicemember to be more mission focused,” said Robert Tibi, Executive
Director of the Shreveport-Bossier Military Affairs Council.
For more information on the Currency of Caring Program, becoming a restaurant donor or to
become a Military Affairs Council member, contact Rob Tibi at the MAC office at 318-429-2418
[email protected] or visit https://sbmilitaryaffairs.com/.