Have you ever met a woman in this military life who’s so real, so authentic, and so unbelievably unique, amazing and has a heart and soul for helping others? Let me introduce you one: Monica Bassett. She’s the founder, CEO, and President of Stronghold Food Pantry. She’s also a dedicated military spouse and incredible mom of two.
I had heard of her before moving to Fort Leavenworth, but not as much as I wish I had with how vast the nonprofit she started and has grown to the most beautiful organization I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering for. Stronghold’s mission “serves American military families facing food insecurity with care and dignity by providing food, necessities, and resources whenever and wherever they are needed.” The vision of the nonprofit strives “to remove stigma and ease the epidemic of food insecurity among military communities by proliferating awareness, advocacy, and collaboration.“
Stronghold’s mission operates by these pillars:
- “Compassion: We serve our military families with compassion and grace.
- Equality: We believe military families have equitable assistance and welcome all services.
- Integrity: We operate with honesty, integrity, and transparency.
- Community: We recognize the importance of creating and collaborating with the community.
- Dignity: We treat our military families, volunteers, and donors with dignity, care, and respect.”
The flagship and headquarters at Fort Leavenworth is home to a weekly pantry, happy bottoms diapers, the hunger buster program, an annual baby shower, Stuff the Backpack event, and the Christmas Depot. It is “More Than a Pantry” as its tagline reads and it truly embodies that as a service to fill the gap in our military community. Everyone is treated with the utmost dignity and respect, making sure the units have a resource for their service members and families of all ranks and circumstances. The fully volunteer operated non profit is a 501(c)3 and has the capability to protect patron’s privacy since it operates without the. the typical red tape of the military.
After feeding families at Fort Riley out of her garage in 2020, Monica started Stronghold Food Pantry in 2022 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. When she moved to Fort Leavenworth, she made sure that a structure and resources were born and put in place for the service of Stronghold to take root in the community and continue to grow thanks to a very kind donation of space from Armed Forces Insurance. AFI offered part of their building for the headquarters here at Fort Leavenworth!
She also makes efforts to target the root causes of food insecurity (currently 1 in 4 military families) through Stronghold U: a series of live and recorded webinars, events, and speakers dedicated to helping families through cooking classes (with our resident professional Chef V), PCS tips and how to’s, and more.
It’s grown to something I personally marvel at and am so grateful to be a small piece through volunteering and becoming an ambassador this summer when my family moves. Ashley Gutermuth was the first ambassador and helps with this program every time she travels for work (check her out! She’s amazing, too!).
Stronghold is truly living out its mission. In 2024 Stronghold provided 72,500 pounds of food in addition to $35,000 of basic necessities through 3,500 volunteer hours. These efforts served 90 patrons weekly on average, in 17 states and 4 countries, across all branches of the military. Want to find a way to be involved: head Stronghold Food Pantry to donate, apply for support, or apply to become an ambassador for your local military community. Stronghold, through Monica, its programs, and volunteers is making history as an amazing service to support the military families and communities! Take a look at how to choose the right volunteer opportunities for you with this blog from Military Mom collective.
*Photos used with permission from Stronghold*
