2026 Blue KC Gamechanger Honoree Monica Bassett – Month of July
This is Who You Are
Monica Bassett has always had a military mindset. As a daughter of a Vietnam veteran, she watched her parents serve their country and their community. Now, as the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Greg Bassett, stationed at Fort Leavenworth, she is doing the same thing.
She is the founder of Stronghold Food Pantry, an organization that provides fresh groceries to military families struggling with food insecurity. Surprisingly, nearly one in four military families suffer with food insecurity to some degree.
It became worse during COVID and the years that followed. We all suffered with a lack of basic necessities, like toilet paper, because shipments of supplies were delayed due to a lack of staffing in the shipping industry.
For military families, moving from one duty station to another adds struggles. Moving costs often outpace what’s covered by the military. Delayed shipments of household goods compound the problem, forcing families to repurchase items they already own, leaving families to make hard decisions when it comes to food.
Bassett and her family were on vacation when she became aware of the situation. Her immediate reaction was, “This can’t be happening.” With her military mindset, she set out to change the situation.
When they returned home to Junction City, Kansas, she put her daughters—Sofia, then age 8, and Amelia, then just 18 months old—into a wagon and went around the neighborhood and collected food. She set up a makeshift food pantry in her garage. She then volunteered with the Geary County Food Pantry before starting Stronghold.
Three years after moving to the Kansas City area, Stronghold has provided more than 300,000 meals’ worth of fresh groceries to more than 18,000 military families.
Because of her work, Bassett is the July recipient of the Blue KC Gamechanger award. Founded in 2024 by Blue KC and the Kansas City Current, the Blue KC Gamechanger program recognizes an individual whose leadership inspires physical, mental, emotional and community wellness by creating healthier, more inclusive environments. This can be done through healthcare, education, sport or advocacy efforts. To nominate the next Blue KC Gamechanger, CLICK HERE.
Bassett didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, instead focusing on helping Stronghold fill the gaps.
“It wasn’t an idea that was always there,” she said. “It truly was a call to action. There is no way I could unsee what I read. There are things that once you know, you can’t unknow. That really pushed me into action.”
Stronghold is a grassroots organization, so Bassett has to wear a lot of hats. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. But her husband’s words have inspired her.
“Sometimes I’m up until 3 in the morning getting things done, and I’ll say, ‘Why did I do this?’ she said. “My husband will say, ‘This is who you are.’”
She believes God placed this mission in front of her—one she couldn’t ignore, and one that rooted her in Kansas. While her work at Fort Riley was meaningful, she hadn’t yet seen the need beyond it. When they moved to Fort Leavenworth, a connection with Armed Forces Insurance gave Stronghold a home to grow into.
She said she was “insanely humbled” by the Blue KC Gamechanger honor.
“I started screaming, ‘Greg! Greg!’ I don’t ever like to celebrate things like that,” she said. “One of the prayers I say every night and every morning is ‘Don’t let me get ahead of You and don’t let me get a big head,’ because I am human.”
The fact that the award is being given by Blue KC and the Kansas City Current makes it more special.
“It’s one thing to be recognized within the military community,” she said. “But that community is 1 percent of the entire nation. To be recognized by an outside of that box community for the work that we’re doing, that is humbling.”
It’s certainly worthy recognition.
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