A restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colo., is offering free food to federal workers who have gone unpaid because of the U.S. government shutdown.
âTheyâre dedicated public service employees⌠and we want to help them,â Richard Skorman, who co-owns Poor Richardâs Restaurant, told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel. âWeâve had many hundreds of people and their families that take us up on it, so itâs been very gratifying.â
The U.S. government shutdown began on Dec. 22 over the Democrat-controlled Congressâ refusal to fund President Donald Trumpâs proposed southern border wall. Since then, hundreds of thousands of government workers have gone unpaid.
âMany of them arenât high-paid employees,â Skorman said. âThey work at the airport, they work at the federal prison, they work at the food stamp office. And so not knowing if theyâre 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.â
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.
âItâs terrible for these families,â Skorman said. âThere are many of them (who) arenât sure if theyâre going to be able to make their rent next month.â
The restaurant has spread the word and local media. Affected workers, Skorman says, have been âhumbledâ and are âappreciativeâ by the gesture.
âAnd 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,â he added. âSo itâs a community event and everybodyâs really excited about trying to help.â
Asked about the shutdown itself, Skorman says that heâs âfrustratedâ by it.
âItâs bad government -- it really is,â he explained. âItâs just not pleasant to watch when youâre at the local level. You just wish that they would get it together and stop fighting about these things.â
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.
âWeâre going to be here as long as theyâre hurting,â he said. âThe community is really stepping up to help us with this and so weâre going to keep doing it. It feels good, itâs really what local businesses should be doing and I hope that business do this all around the country.â