In the wake of the partial government shutdown, unpaid federal employees are getting a helping hand from supporters on GoFundMe, with more than $400,000 raised so far to help workers make ends meet.
Since the shutdown began on December 21, many of the roughly 800,000 federal employees who have either been furloughed or are working without any pay have been forced to seek financial support, rely on food donations or take on side jobs in order to support themselves and their families.
Read more: Federal workers across U.S. launch GoFundMe accounts to help pay their bills
In a statement sent to Newsweek, GoFundMe spokesperson Katherine Cichy said that to date, the online crowdfunding site has seen 1,800 campaigns launched in support of workers affected by the shutdown. Some of those campaigns have been started by federal workers themselves, with many fundraisers making emotional pleas for support. Others have been started on their behalf.
Tina Gonzalez-Poole, of Hackettstown, New Jersey, described her family's struggle to cover basic living expenses, particularly after recently buying a new house with her husband, a veteran and Federal Aviation Administration employee.
With a 2-year-old daughter to take care of, Gonzalez-Poole said she and her husband had been left with only a few hundred dollars to pay for living expenses after covering their new home's mortgage and other bills.
In a statement on her GoFundMe page, which has so far raised $1,730 of its $10,000 goal, Gonzalez-Poole said her family started the page "out of despair," but "had no idea the shutdown would...not have an end in sight and that my husband would still be furloughed.
"Living without pay since December, as I am an adjunct, currently waiting to start work, has only been possible through the kindness and charity of the donations by the wonderful people that have chosen to help us," she said. "We hope we can tread water and have our fingers crossed that something gives, as the next batch of monthly bills comes rolling in."
Gonzalez-Poole said the family had not "had much luck in terms of other employment options and income, but we believe in miracles and pray the universe hears us."
Speaking of her husband's experience, Gonzalez-Poole said, "It breaks my heart to see my husband falling apart, a proud and strong man who served his country in the Marine Corps for five years, also touring in Afghanistan. He spends sleepless nights now, ambling through the house, reading news articles and obsessing over CNN.
"I can't help but to remember how he spent sleepless years, after coming home from Afghanistan," she said. "The man had finally found peace and rest, but even that has now been taken away because his livelihood has been taken from him, which means that it has also been taken from his wife and child."
Gonzalez-Poole begged "those in power to take a long hard look at what they are doing to the people that make up this country" and "take mercy, or at least have some kind of common decency toward us."
Among those accounts raising funds on behalf of federal workers is one launched to help feed furloughed federal workers in D.C., the #ChefsforFeds movement, started by chef José Andrés.
All funds raised through that campaign, which has so far met more than $6,500 of its $10,000 goal, will go toward the opening of a kitchen on Pennsylvania Avenue that will provide free hot meals and to-go items for federal employees in need, as well as their families.
Cichy said that anyone worried about potential fraud can rest assured that GoFundMe has a "dedicated trust and safety team reviewing all campaigns related to the government shutdown.
"We deploy proprietary technical tools and have multiple processes in place to verify the identity of campaign organizers and the beneficiary of the campaign," she said, adding that "before money is transferred, an individual's information, including their banking information, must be verified by our payment processor."
The campaigns are also covered by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that funds are "guaranteed" to go to the right place or they will be refunded.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Chantal Da Silva is Chief Correspondent at Newsweek, with a focus on immigration and human rights. She is a Canadian-British journalist whose work ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
