Food Bank Helps Furloughed Grand Canyon Workers One hotel worker was called and told not to come to work. Another has seen a slowing pace of rooms needing to be cleaned. And a hotel manager has decided to shut down after renting out one room on what normally would be a busy October night. Business leaders in Tusayan (too-say-ahn), just outside the Grand Canyon's South Rim entrance pleaded with the federal government Tuesday to reopen the park that is the lifeline of the tiny town. Meanwhile, an Arizona food bank delivered hundreds of boxes to help out concession and government workers who have been furloughed from their jobs or had their hours cut. "It's definitely going to affect my paycheck," said Louise Mendoza, a hotel room inspector who picked up a box of nonperishable food at the local fire station. It's really hard because we have only a few to do every day, and the hours are short. The pastor of a church inside the park reached out to Phoenix-based St. Mary's Food Bank for help after he realized he couldn't meet the needs of people with donations he distributes out of his garage. The Rev. Patrick Dotson said many of the affected workers live paycheck to paycheck and are struggling to provide food for their families. "It's a great turnout," he said Tuesday afternoon. We're really thankful people are coming, the word is spreading and people are getting the help they need. About 4.5 million tourists from around the world visit the Grand Canyon each year, pouring an estimated $1.3 million a day into nearby communities. The National Park Service said 2,200 federal and private employees who work in the park are on furlough and that the park will remain closed until the government reopens. For a brief time Tuesday, about 50 people crowded around the entrance sign to Grand Canyon National Park while helicopters hovered overhead carrying passengers over the massive gorge. Business leaders and community members organized a "fed up with the feds" protest to highlight the economic crisis they said they're facing. Few services are available at the Grand Canyon and in Tusayan. The companies in town stake their business on access to the Grand Canyon. Becky Shearer, who manages a lodge in Tusayan, said she kept about 10 employees on during the first week of the shutdown but will be closing the 20-room lodge. The state highway into Tusayan is now a dead-end street with everyone but park employees and residents of Grand Canyon Village being turned away. Town Council member Craig Sanderson, an air tour pilot, called on Congress to act soon to open the canyon to sightseeing. We're not telling the Park Service how to open it. We're saying 'here's the money, do it,'" he said. By not opening the park, that tells me it's political. Clarinda Vail, whose family owns businesses and property in Tusayan, called the situation a crisis. She said the community is suffering economic loss resulting from the shutdown and the Obama administration's refusal to accept offers of private and public money to keep the park open. Vail said she hopes efforts by Arizona's U.S. senators, legislative leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer "will change some minds" within the Obama administration. Brewer and state legislative leaders have sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to approve funding for the Arizona park and other national parks.