Western New Yorkers donate more than $16K in gift cards to TSA agents
By Maki Becker
Click here for updates on this story
CHEEKTOWAGA, New York (WKBW) — Western New Yorkers are stepping up to help TSA agents at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport who have been working without a paycheck for more than five weeks.
The airport put out the word on Monday, and by 8 a.m. Tuesday, dozens of people began dropping off gift cards of all kinds to support the workers.
According to NFTA’s Kelly Khatib, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport recieved $16,000 in gift card donations during Tuesday’s drive.
“There’s people in Western New York that care more than the darn government,” one person said.
Volunteers whose usual job is to bring their therapy dogs to the terminal were busy collecting the cards on Tuesday.
“We’ve had McDonald’s, we’ve had Aldi’s, we’ve had Tops,” a volunteer said.
“I feel uplifted by all this generosity. I’m just amazed by how generous people are,” a volunteer said.
“This is phenomenal. The people just keep coming,” a volunteer said.
So far, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport isn’t seeing the long lines like at other airports, but the TSA agents here are nevertheless not getting paid as the partial government shutdown drags on.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WKBW verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.