Major US airports are asking people to donate gift cards and essentials to TSA workers who are going without pay

Major US airports are calling for donations of food and other essentials to TSA workers who are going without paychecks amid the partial government shutdown.

In an X post on Wednesday, Denver International Airport wrote, “DONATIONS NEEDED.”

“Support the dedicated TSA employees working without pay by donating $10 and $20 grocery store and gas gift cards,” it said. “Visa gift cards cannot be accepted.”

A Denver airport spokesperson told Business Insider that during the partial government shutdown, airport leadership and TSA leadership identified grocery store and gas gift cards as “immediate needs” for TSA employees.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport wrote in a similar X post on Wednesday that essential federal workers, including TSA and Customs and Border Protection staff, are continuing to work without pay, and the airport has opened a food pantry to support them.

“If you’d like to help, donations of non-perishable food, hygiene items, and diapers can be dropped off at the SEA Conference Center between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” the airport’s X post read.

Perry Cooper, a spokesperson for Seattle Airport, told Business Insider that pantry donations had been set up during previous government shutdowns. Cooper added that Seattle’s airport tenants are helping out, too, by providing meals and discounts to TSA staff during their shifts.

The airports’ calls for donations and gift cards come amid the partial government shutdown since February, which has left TSA agents without pay for the second time in recent months.

Last year, a 43-day shutdown — the longest in the country’s recent history — saw TSA agents working without paychecks for weeks, resulting in travel chaos during Thanksgiving.

In the past week, reports emerged of hourslong queues at security checks across airports in the US. Houston Hobby Airport and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport saw queues lasting up to three hours on Sunday and Monday.

Airports like the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and New Orleans Airport in X posts this week advised travelers to arrive two to three hours ahead of their flight times to account for longer security checks.