Government Workers Seeking Online Donations to Survive Shutdown

Some workers have taken to crowdfunding to cover expenses ranging from mortgages to food.

January 10, 2019 12:00 pm
Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, PA, on January 8, 2019. If continued in the next days the shutdown will be the longest in the U.S. history and was tricked after the Republicans of President Trump lost control over the U.S House of Representatives after the recent elections. (Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Furloughed federal workers, joined by elected officials, hold up sings to protest the federal government shutdown during a non-partisan rally at Independence Mall, in Philadelphia, PA, on January 8, 2019. If continued in the next days the shutdown will be the longest in the U.S. history and was tricked after the Republicans of President Trump lost control over the U.S House of Representatives after the recent elections. (Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images

In order to cover expenses ranging from mortgages to food, some federal employees who are out of work thanks to the government shutdown have resorted to crowdfunding.

According to a spokesperson for GoFundMe, about 1,000 federal workers have already turned to the online fundraising platform in order to raise money.

Collectively, the workers have raised more than $100,000 for themselves and their families.

Alphonzo Breland, an IRS employee, started a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising more than $2,500 and is also looking into getting a night job at a warehouse to pay his bills.

“My heart is always fluttering, my head is racing,” Breland told Reuters. “My mortgage is due now, I have until the 15th and then I get a late fee. I had to cancel the tuition deduction for my daughter’s school.”

During the shutdown, which has lasted for nearly three weeks, about 800,000 federal employees have been ordered to stay home or work without pay.

Congress and President Donald Trump remain at odds over Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall on the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants from Mexico.

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