When Tonja Myles was struggling with addiction and childhood trauma, she promised to dedicate her life to serving God when she recovered.
Now, she and her husband are providing food, toiletries, and financial assistance to Transportation Security Administration agents in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who are working without pay during a partial government shutdown.
“We’re encouraging every faith-based organization you know in our country to do the same to step up and lead charge on this,” Myles told The Daily Signal, “and then reach out to their local community partners to say, ‘Hey, can you help them?'”
The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for 33 days as Senate Democrats are demanding reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the meantime, TSA agents are working without paychecks.
During the full government shutdown in October, Myles’ nonprofit, Set Free Indeed Ministries, provided 350 meals and more than $3,000 of personal hygiene items to TSA agents. The Baton Rouge airport reached out to Myles when DHS shut down last month, asking Set Free Indeed to help again.
Myles has brought jambalaya, non-perishable food items, soap, paper towels, deodorant, toothpaste, gas station gift cards, and more to the agents.
“Democrats are holding DHS funding hostage, and it has a real human cost,” a senior White House official told The Daily Signal. “Thankfully, faith leaders are stepping up in their communities to make sure essential workers are taken care of. It’s time for Democrats to end this shutdown and fully reopen the government.”
Myles hopes the assistance will help the agents feed their families and pay for gas to get to work.
“Not only TSA, but also DHS, they’re protecting our country, and we’re not protecting them,” Myles said. “That’s not what you do for a good soldier.”
Myles hopes her work will inspire other nonprofits to care for TSA agents.
“We want this challenge to be something not just here in Baton Rouge, but we want to challenge other faith-based organizations, churches around the country to do the same and do it now, because they’re hurting,” she said.
