Hundreds of thousands of government workers currently have to face not knowing when they’ll be paid again, but dozens of restaurants in high profile areas across the United States are seeking to help fill in the gap. Offers for free food for workers adversely affected by the ongoing partial government shutdown have popped up across the United States, from Colorado to Indianapolis to D.C. itself.
Colorado Springs Poor Richard’s restaurant owners Richard Skorman and Patricia Seator have apparently been at this every time the government has shut down over recent years. The currently unfolding crisis is the second sparked by President Donald Trump refusing to approve spending if he doesn’t get what he wants; at present, he’s demanding billions of dollars for the border wall he’s long sought to block off Mexico.
It’s hardly a given that he will ever get that money, as Democrats have insisted the wall proposal is a “non-starter” for negotiations, although Trump has shown no signs of relenting, claiming his wall would address a (made-up) crisis of epic proportions. He made that case to the nation Tuesday night via his first primetime address from the Oval Office as president, which was jam packed with lies and nonsense.
As that mess continues, Skorman says of his and his wife’s efforts to help:
‘It’s something we like to do because people are really struggling financially, working paycheck to paycheck. Government workers are often not making huge amounts of money and they really appreciate it… These are employees who are behind the scenes. They weren’t expecting anybody to reach out to them in a kind way, or that anybody cares that much about them.’
Trump has insisted that he “can relate” to their plight, but that’s little consolation when he’s the one inflicting it. He’s claimed without evidence that most if not all federal workers affected by his shutdown would support the push for a border wall if asked.
Down in reality, restaurateurs continue to help.
Indianapolis chef Neal Brown, for instance, has worked towards bringing free food out to the hundreds of affected workers at the Indianapolis International Airport. He’s already been offering free food for affected government workers at his restaurants, and says that he’s gotten “over two dozen responses from friends and colleagues in the industry” who are into helping him with larger scale efforts to help the hundreds of workers on the job without pay at Indianapolis International.
Brown cites the efforts of celebrity chef José Andrés to help those affected by the shutdown as inspiration. He’d announced that all affected government workers could get free food at his restaurants across D.C., and other establishments across the nation’s capital and the country at large have followed suit.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has offered essentially no support for affected government workers, and Trump has insisted he’s willing to have the shutdown drag on for months or even years.
The federal government’s Office of Personnel Management has claimed that they posted advice for affected workers to offer to trade handyman services for rent “inadvertently.”
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
