Coast Guard members missed their first paycheck on January 15.

The service has been without funding to pay them since the government shutdown on December 21.

Coast Guardsmen are still working around the world, and communities throughout the US are organizing to support them and their families.

"It's worrisome. I have to put food in my family's belly," said Coast Guard mechanic Kyle Turcott, who is working without pay.

"It's hard to focus on search and rescue if you don’t know whether your kids and family are going to have a roof over their head and food on the table," a Coast Guard spouse said.

The 25-day government shutdown is already the longest in US history, and January 15 marked another ignominious milestone.

"Today you will not be receiving your regularly scheduled mid-month paycheck," Coast Guard commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said in a January 15 letter to service members.

"To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our nation’s history that servicemembers in a US armed force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations," Schultz added.

The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are funded through the Defense Department, which got it its fiscal year 2019 budget in the fall, and none of their troops are missing a paycheck.

But the Coast Guard, while technically a military branch, is funded through the Homeland Security Department, funding for which has been held up amid a dispute between President Donald Trump and Congress over $5.7 billion Trump wants to start construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border.

The 621st Contingency Response Wing/Flickr

The strain is being felt acutely by the Coast Guard roughly 41,000 active-duty members, who received their December 31 paycheck through a stop-gap measure that service officials said could not be repeated.

In a January 10 letter, Vice Commandant Adm. Charles Ray said that without an appropriation or funding measure, "the Coast Guard will not be able to meet the next payroll."

"Let me assure you your leadership continues to do everything possible, both internal and external to the Service, to ensure we can process your pay as soon as we receive an appropriation," Ray added. "However, I do not know when that will occur."

Read more: The Coast Guard is about to miss a paycheck because of the government shutdown, but its members are still doing missions

"It is also not lost on me that our dedicated civilians are already adjusting to a missed paycheck—we are confronting this challenge together," Schultz said in his message. Civilian employees have gone unpaid since December 21.

Active-duty members deemed essential have continued working, as have about 1,300 civilian workers. Most of the service's 8,500 civilian employees have been furloughed, and pay and benefits for some 50,000 retired members and employees could be affected if the shutdown drags into late January.

US Coast Guard ice-rescue team members participate in training on Lake Champlain at Coast Guard Station Burlington, Burlington, Vermont, February 17, 2017. US Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah Mattison

Coast Guard service members are still operating on US waterways, however.

In the Coast Guard's 14th district, which covers 12.2 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, 835 active-duty personnel and some civilians are still working from bases in Hawaii and Guam and detachments in Japan and Singapore, carrying out "essential operations" such as search-and-rescue and law enforcement, 14th district spokeswoman Chief Sara Muir told Stars and Stripes.

Between December 21 and January 7, the district handled 46 cases, including two major ones, Muir said. On January 13, Coast Guard personnel medevaced a crew member off a fishing vessel 80 miles north of Kauai.

Read more: The US military is warning that China's fishing boats are bullies and could start a war on the high seas

Other operations, like recreational-vessel safety checks and issuing or renewing licenses and other administrative work, have been curtailed. The service has said vendors who provide fuel and other services also won't be paid until funding resumes.

As the shutdown drags on, communities around the country have mustered to support Coast Guard members and families, particularly junior members, many of whom lack savings.

Crew members from Coast Guard Station Sand Key, Florida, take part in survival swim training, December 8, 2017. US Coast Guard/Petty Officer 1st Class Michael De Nyse

On January 12, dozens of northern Michigan residents gathered for a silent auction and donation event, with funds raised going toward expenses like rent, medical bills, and heating for service members and their families.

"Whenever you cannot predict when you're gonna get your next paycheck, but you know exactly when the bills are due, it causes a lot of stress," Kenneth Arbogast, a retired Coast Guard chief petty officer, told UpNorthLive.com. "And for younger members, young families, that's really a challenge."

Read more: The Coast Guard turned down a request for an Arctic exercise out of concern the US's only heavy icebreaker would break down and Russia would have to rescue it

On January 13, more than 600 service members, including 168 families, gathered in Alameda, California, for a giveaway organized by the East Bay Coast Guard Spouses Club, providing them with everything from fresh fruit to diapers.

"It's worrisome. I have to put food in my family's belly," said Coast Guard mechanic Kyle Turcott, who is working without pay. "Ain't no telling, we may not get paid until the first of next month," added Nathan Knight, another service member.

The organizers said they were working on another food drive and could host another distribution event this week.

Coast Guard cutter Munro passes under the Golden Gate Bridge on its way into the Bay Area, April 6, 2017. US Coast Guard/Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Stanton

On January 14, Thomas Edison State University in New Jersey announced that Coast Guard students affected by the shutdown would be able to defer payments until tuition assistance was available again. The school has 135 active-duty students — 27 of whom are registered for February.

In Rhode Island, Roger Williams University said that on January 15 it would offer free dining-hall meals to active-duty Coast Guard members and their families from Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

Read more: We got aboard a Coast Guard chopper to see how they bust smugglers and save boaters in the crowded waters around Miami

In Texas, Coast Guard noncommissioned officers have raised money through local chapters of the Coast Guard Petty Officers Association. Last week, they brought in food to cook at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, encouraging younger service members to take food home.

Navy Federal Credit Union, which serves military members, veterans, and civilian Defense Department employees, has said it would offer no-interest loans up to $6,000 to workers affected by the shutdown, with repayment automatically deducted from paychecks once direct-deposit resumes.

Crewmembers of the Coast Guard cutter Mohawk and Tactical Law Enforcement Team South on a self-propelled semi-submersible, July 3, 2018. US Coast Guard

In his January 10 letter, Ray also said that the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Board had increased the interest-free loans it was offering, focusing on junior members, allowing those with dependents to get up to $1,000.

In his January 15 letter, Schultz said he was "encouraged to share" that the CGMA had gotten a $15 million donation from USAA, a financial-services firm of which many current and former service members are clients.

"In partnership with CGMA, the American Red Cross will assist in the distribution of these funds to our military and civilian workforce requiring assistance," Schultz said in his letter.

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Erin Picou, whose husband is a chief petty officer with 17 years experience, said her family could cover the most important bills, but the mortgage for their house, on which they spent their savings six months ago, is less certain.

"It's pretty scary. I don’t want the bank to take my new house," Picou told The San Antonio Express-News.

"I can't speak for them, but I myself think my husband has worked his ass off. He needs to get a paycheck," Picou added. "It's hard to focus on search and rescue if you don’t know whether your kids and family are going to have a roof over their head and food on the table."

President Donald Trump addresses Coast Guard personnel. AP

Measures have been introduced to Congress to ensure pay for Coast Guard members. However, Ray said, "I cannot predict what course that legislation may take."

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she was working with the White House and Congress on legislation to fund the service.

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"Like the other branches of the U.S. military, active duty @USCG should be paid for their service and sacrifice to this nation," Nielsen said on Twitter.

"I am grateful for the outpouring of support across the country, particularly in local communities, for our men and women," Schultz added in his January 15 letter. "They recognize the sacrifice that you and your family make in service to your country."

This post has been updated.