A restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colo., is offering free food to federal workers who have gone unpaid because of the U.S. government shutdown.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e dedicated public service employees鈥� and we want to help them,鈥� Richard Skorman, who co-owns Poor Richard鈥檚 Restaurant, told 麻豆传媒 Channel. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had many hundreds of people and their families that take us up on it, so it鈥檚 been very gratifying.鈥�
The U.S. government shutdown began on Dec. 22 over the Democrat-controlled Congress鈥� refusal to fund President Donald Trump鈥檚 proposed southern border wall. Since then, hundreds of thousands of government workers have gone unpaid.
鈥淢any of them aren鈥檛 high-paid employees,鈥� Skorman said. 鈥淭hey work at the airport, they work at the federal prison, they work at the food stamp office. And so not knowing if they鈥檙e going to get a paycheque or having to work, and hence not being able to go out and get money in other ways, is very difficult.鈥�
This is not the first time that the restaurant, which Skorman has co-owned since the early 1990s, has fed federal employees during a government shutdown.
鈥淚t鈥檚 terrible for these families,鈥� Skorman said. 鈥淭here are many of them (who) aren鈥檛 sure if they鈥檙e going to be able to make their rent next month.鈥�
The restaurant has spread the word and local media. Affected workers, Skorman says, have been 鈥渉umbled鈥� and are 鈥渁ppreciative鈥� by the gesture.
鈥淎nd then the other good news is that many of our customers are giving us money to help us replace the cost for giving free food,鈥� he added. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 a community event and everybody鈥檚 really excited about trying to help.鈥�
Asked about the shutdown itself, Skorman says that he鈥檚 鈥渇rustrated鈥� by it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bad government -- it really is,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not pleasant to watch when you鈥檙e at the local level. You just wish that they would get it together and stop fighting about these things.鈥�
With Trump threatening to keep the shutdown going for months if he does not receive billions of dollars for his wall, there is currently no end in sight for the political impasse. And as long as the shutdown lasts, Skorman vows to keep feeding affected workers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be here as long as they鈥檙e hurting,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he community is really stepping up to help us with this and so we鈥檙e going to keep doing it. It feels good, it鈥檚 really what local businesses should be doing and I hope that business do this all around the country.鈥�
