WASHINGTON – Most of Marcelo Carrillo’s customers work at Fort Huachuca – the biggest military installation in Arizona and the biggest employer in the state’s southeast corner.

With the government shutdown in its fourth week and thousands of civilian federal workers furloughed, the lunch rush at 143 Street Tacos, less than a mile from the gate, has slowed to a trickle.

So Carrillo has turned the tip jar into a collection jar – for donors to buy their neighbors meals they can no longer afford.

“People come and they drop off money like, here’s $20, here’s $5,” he said. “This is a tight-knit community, and my friends are going through it every time they do this shutdown thing.”

About 20% of Sierra Vista population employed at Fort Huachuca

Roughly one in five people in Sierra Vista, popu

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