Stronghold Food Pantry

11/02/2026

💙 One person takes the oath.

The whole family serves. 🇺🇸

November is National Military Family Month, and that deserves more than a thank you. It deserves to be recognized.

The career restarted in a fourth state. The résumé with gaps that aren’t really gaps. The child who becomes the new kid all over again. The house that finally feels like home just as it’s time to pack it up. The friendships that stretch across time zones and years.

These sacrifices may not appear in a service record, but they are part of the military family experience.

At Stronghold, we recognize that no two families are alike. That’s why we meet families where they are, with dignity, compassion, and support tailored to their households.

Together, we’ve supported more than 18,000 service members, spouses, and children and distributed more than 200,000 pounds of fresh groceries. None of this happens alone.

Stronghold has grown through relationships and trust. A spouse tells another spouse. A neighbor shares with a neighbor. A family lets another family know there’s a place to turn when they need support.

To every volunteer, donor, sponsor, and in-kind partner who has given your time, talent, or resources to this mission, thank you. You are part of this story, too.

This National Military Family Month, we celebrate the families behind the uniform and the community that continues to show up for them.

Stronger together. Serving the whole family.

We are Stronghold.



strongholdfoodpantry.org

11/01/2026

Volunteer orientation is TODAY! We can't wait to meet you.

💡 Before you arrive, please make sure you've: ✔ Applied online ✔ Returned your signed volunteer packet

Not quite ready? That's okay. Please finish both steps and join us at our next orientation. We'll save you a seat.

2027 orientation dates are coming soon.

Apply at strongholdfoodpantry.org/volunteer

10/30/2026

Armed Forces Bank has officially announced its inaugural Who We Honor Award, recognizing Stronghold Food Pantry founder and CEO Monica Bassett.

We are honored, and grateful to Tom McLean and the team at Armed Forces Bank for believing in Monica and in this mission.

Since Stronghold began as a grassroots effort in 2022, our work has grown to reach military families across 72 installations in 26 states, with more than 202,800 meals provided. But this journey has never been Monica's alone. It has been shaped by the people who stood beside us and helped us reach more families.

Armed Forces Bank has been part of that story from the beginning. Tina Far and the Fort Leavenworth team supported Stronghold in our early days through volunteering, fundraising, and food drives. Today, Heather Lee Schneider and associates across the bank continue to show up for military families, including at a recent Pop-Up Pantry at Fort Myer.

Tom, Tina, Heather, and the entire Armed Forces Bank team, thank you.

We are grateful for this honor, and for the years of partnership, encouragement, and commitment to the military community behind it.

Read the full announcement below.

Stronger Together. 🇺🇸 💙

/PRNewswire/ -- Armed Forces Bank, a full-service military bank committed to serving those who serve since 1907, has named Monica Bassett, founder and CEO of...

10/29/2026

💙 We’re so excited to welcome you to Stronghold!

Interested in volunteering with Stronghold Food Pantry? We’d love to have you join our team! 🏰

Join us for Volunteer Orientation on Sunday, November 1, 2026, from 1:30–2:30 PM at the Armed Forces Insurance Building, 655 Biddle Blvd, Fort Leavenworth, KS.

Before we gather, there are just three quick steps to complete:

1️⃣ Apply online: strongholdfoodpantry.org/volunteer

2️⃣ Return your volunteer packet. We’ll email it to you to review, sign, and return.

3️⃣ Attend orientation on November 1!

Please complete steps 1 and 2 before orientation so we can spend our time together welcoming you and getting you ready to serve.

💡 As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, VMIS-certified organization, and nationally recognized nonprofit, Stronghold welcomes volunteers who want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of military families. We also verify eligible youth volunteer hours, making this a great opportunity for students looking to serve their community.

At Stronghold, every volunteer helps create an experience where military families feel welcomed, supported, and treated with the dignity they deserve.

Thank you for choosing to be part of something bigger than yourself. We can’t wait to welcome you! 💙

👉 Apply today: strongholdfoodpantry.org/volunteer

10/27/2026

📣 Jacksonville, we’re coming to you!

The Stronghold Food Pantry Pop-Up Market Experience is headed to Jacksonville, Florida, this December alongside our friends at Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)!

☎️ Help us spread the word! Share this post in your community groups, with friends, and on your personal social media to help us reach military families who need a little support this season.

But don’t just take our word for what makes Stronghold different. Hear it from the families we’ve served:

💙 “It was such a blessing. It was everything I needed for our home — real food my family could eat.”

💙 “Everyone was so friendly. We had never needed help before. This was different, organized, and so welcoming. Not what we had expected. Don’t change a thing!”

💙 “We were so happy to have everything my family eats, even milk and eggs, meat.”

While Stronghold started in our founders garage, her passion, vision, and our community, has grown into a grassroots movement grounded in one belief: military families deserve more than groceries. They deserve dignity, compassion, and care. 🇺🇸

📣 Jacksonville families, registration is coming soon!

Appointments will be required, and families must complete an application before scheduling.

📲 Scan the QR code on the graphic or visit strongholdfoodpantry.org

Jacksonville, we can’t wait to meet you!

Stronger Together. 💙

10/26/2026

🇺🇸 Fort Leavenworth community, this Veterans Day, our doors are open to those who served. 💙

At Stronghold Food Pantry, we believe supporting those who serve our country means standing beside them and their families through every season of life, including the transition to civilian life.

🪖This Veterans Day, we’re honored to open our pantry doors a little wider. Alongside the currently serving military families we welcome each week, we’re inviting veterans, recently retired service members, transitioning service members, and National Guard and Reserve families in our community who could use a little extra support to come shop with us.

🧡 Whether you’re navigating a new chapter after military service, adjusting to retirement, or simply facing a season when the family budget could use some breathing room, you are welcome here.

We’re especially grateful to partner with Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., who will be providing all the dairy products for this special Veterans Day Open Pantry. DFA shares a commitment to honoring and supporting veterans, military personnel, and their families, and we’re proud to come together to put that commitment into action right here in our community.

🥛 🧀 🍎 🍗 Fresh foods. Pantry staples. Dairy products for your family. The freedom to choose what you need, and a community that is glad you’re here.

🔗 Appointments are limited. Reserve yours at https://strongholdfoodpantry.org

💡 If you’re a veteran or military family in the Fort Leavenworth area, we’d love to welcome you. And if you know someone who might benefit from this opportunity, please share this post so they know support is available.

This Veterans Day, we honor your service by showing up for you. 🇺🇸💙

Together we are Stronger.

Military ID or other proof of service required.

10/26/2026

💙 JBLM, Washington — look how far we’ve come.

When we first selected JBLM as a test pilot for a service model our CEO had built, we carried one very important question with us: Could we do this well? Could we create an experience that honored military families, delivered on our promises, and never left a family feeling let down?

That first Pop-Up Pantry, we served 35 families, providing a week’s worth of fresh groceries to bring home to their dinner tables.

This year, we served 75 families.

But what we brought to JBLM was never meant to be just groceries.

It was an opportunity to put our foundational values into action. To bring a community together, make a meaningful difference, and show military families that people care.

At Stronghold, we believe how we serve matters just as much as what we serve.

Because the way we treat people reflects what we believe about people. Dignity, compassion, and connection aren’t just words we stand behind. They’re values we have the opportunity to practice with every family we meet.

And when we lead with those values, we do more than fill a pantry. We help build a community where people feel seen, supported, and reminded that they matter.

JBLM, thank you for welcoming Stronghold and trusting us to serve your community.

We are honored to be here, and we will continue working to earn that trust — one family, one connection, and one Pop-Up Pantry at a time. 💙

35 families in our first year. 75 families this year. One mission that has never changed: serving military families with the care, compassion, and dignity they deserve.

Thank you Newrez for helping bring that to life.

Stronger Together. 💙

10/25/2026

🗳️ You voted. Military families will feel the impact.

💙 A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who voted for Stronghold Food Pantry through Target Circle Community Giving!

🙏 Because of your support, $3,089.52 will go toward feeding military families—helping put fresh food and groceries on family tables when they need it most.

And what could that support mean?

💙 252 people fed
💙 5,292 meals on family tables

🎯 We are incredibly grateful to Target Circle for including Stronghold in this community giving opportunity and helping bring our community together around the military families we serve.

🧡Every vote helped make this possible. Together, we’re building a stronger community for those who serve our nation.

Thank you for being part of the Stronghold mission. 🇺🇸

10/23/2026

💙 The work is bigger than food. It’s about the values we choose to put into practice.

Yesterday, Stronghold Food Pantry’s Founder and CEO, Monica Bassett, had the honor of speaking at the final Junction City-Geary County Military Affairs Council Breakfast of 2026 in the Fort Riley and Junction City community — a community that has been part of Stronghold’s story from the beginning.

From the stage, Monica shared a belief at the heart of Stronghold’s mission: we are in the business of practicing our human values — our Stronghold values — with the military families we serve. 🇺🇸

Dignity. Compassion. Connection.

The belief that people matter, that asking for support should never diminish someone’s worth, and that serving our military community with intention is a responsibility we can share.

But values mean little if they never move beyond words.

They come to life through the volunteers who show up, the partners who invest in the mission, the leaders who bring others alongside them, and the communities that choose to turn care into action. 💫

This is how the Stronghold Experience grows — not by doing more alone, but by inviting more people to become part of the work. By building relationships, developing leaders, and sharing a model of service rooted in the dignity of every family.

This is how movements grow: when shared values become collective action.

And there is room for more of us at this table. 💙

Thank you to the Junction City, Geary County, community for the warm welcome, and to the Military Affairs Council for the invitation.

We are grateful to the military and civic leaders and community partners who continue to strengthen the connections between our military and civilian communities. 🇺🇸

Stronger Together.