WASHINGTON — Federal workers lined up around the corner outside of the Capital Area Food Bank in Southeast Washington, D.C., on Friday after missing their first full paycheck since the now 24-day government shutdown began.
The food bank, set up specifically for federal workers, provided boxed meals, household goods and personal hygiene items to over 250 federal employees on Friday, according to Wil Stroman, a local pastor who is helping organize a food bank for federal workers every Friday until the shutdown ends.
Anthony Speight, who is furloughed for the first time in his 17 years as a federal employee, said that he “never thought” he would be in a position to ask the community for help.
“I used to be a grants administrator, administrator of grants across the federal government, giving assistance, and now I’m in line requesting assistance,” Speight told NBC News.
If federal workers aren’t getting paid, he said, members of Congress should have their paychecks withheld, too.
“Bills continue to pile up. I have car notes, I have children to feed, I have a family to take care of, I have a mortgage to pay, so it’s a lot of uncertainty,” Speight said.
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Members of Congress continue to receive pay during the shutdown, though a handful of lawmakers have asked that their paychecks be withheld.
Though resources like the donation-funded Capital Area Food Bank offer some support for federal workers struggling to make ends meet, furloughed worker Pamela Lewis said that going without pay is unsustainable without more government support.
“When you work all these years and you’re paying taxes and you’re helping other people to make it, and when you’re in need, you can’t get anything. And I think that’s very sad with our country today,” Lewis told NBC News.
“You have a lot of people in an area that don’t have any resources. They don’t have a support system. People are living from paycheck to paycheck, trying to figure out how to feed themselves,” she added.
Some furloughed employees are turning to Uber and DoorDash for extra income, one federal worker said, but “excepted” employees who are required to work during the shutdown but still are not paid are unable to take on another job. The worker, who is still employed by the government, asked that their name not be used.
Stroman, who heads the Urban Outreach ministry that hosted Friday’s food bank, said he will continue organizing food banks for all federal employees “as long as it takes until the shutdown is done.”
“We’re letting them know that we’re here to help, and there’s still hope,” Stroman said.
The Senate failed to advance the Republican Party’s government funding bill for the 12th time this week, without a single senator switching their vote. Republicans and Democrats have cast the blame on the opposing party, while both sides argue that federal workers will suffer as a result.
With no end to the shutdown in sight, Lewis said that all federal workers can do is “just keep pushing forward.”
“As they say, push until something happens. You got to stay strong. You can’t let it depress you,” she said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
