LANSING, Mich. — National Guardsmen and women serving in Washington D.C. are dealing with unimaginable conditions when it comes to their food.
Now a group of Michigan lawmakers is stepping in to help.
Earlier this year, complaints surfaced of undercooked or contaminated food being delivered to members of the National Guard in D.C.
Some of those complaints made it to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk. The governor even called the acting secretary of the Army to report the issue.
Several members of Congress from Michigan asked the National Guard to end the current contract with the vendor supplying meals to Guardsmen back in February.
But State Senators Adam Hollier and Tom Barret worked to raise over $100,000 in private money to send to soldiers impacted by this issue.
The state Senate has already approved a measure to send that money to the soldiers. If it's approved by the House, vouchers valued at about $100 will be distributed to them.
Hollier says servicemen and women put their lives on the line and should have access to fresh, uncontaminated food.
“If you were on the front lines of a battlefield in Kandahar, you understand this is the life we signed up for and things can be adjusted. But there’s no excuse when it's in our nation’s capital and folks are being deployed because of the insurrection that happened there.”
Hollier says many of these soldiers stand guard for 12 hours or more and have reported getting their lunch and dinner delivered together toward the end of their shifts.
Many of them have been buying their own meals.
Hollier says there are about 100 Michigan National Guardsmen deployed to D.C. right now.
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