Seattle Man Raises $45K To Feed Federal Workers

SEATTLE, WA – A Seattle man who marshaled an effort to end school lunch debt in Washington and nationwide has turned his attention to federal workers who are going unpaid during the shutdown.

Jeff Lew has raised $45,000 to send to a nonprofit that’s feeding furloughed and unpaid federal workers. Lew raised the money on GoFundMe in about three days.

“We initially set a goal of $10,000 to support the furloughed federal workers. In just 48 hours, nearly 1,000 donors joined the #ChefsForFeds movement and contributed over $40,000. I am blown away. This is not about politics. This is about helping our fellow Americans,” he wrote on the fundraiser page Friday.

The money will help celebrity chef José Andrés run a kitchen along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, that will serve free food to federal workers. Lew’s efforts in paying off school lunch debt around Washington earned national attention.

“Your donations are going directly to the World Central Kitchen and I hope your messages of support, kindness, and hope reach the federal workers going through a tough time,” Lew wrote.

Lew’s fundraiser is one of several going on in Puget Sound. At Sea-Tac Airport, the Port of Seattle has set up a bin to gather food and household supplies for unpaid federal workers. Mioposto, a pizzeria with locations in Seattle and Mercer Island, is offering discounts to federal workers for each day the shutdown drags on – on the 25th day, for example, they would get 25 percent off, on the 26th, they get 26 percent off, and so on. This week, a food bank at the Seattle Coast Guard base ran out of food, inciting an impromptu food drive.

Some 800,000 federal employees are working without pay. The federal shutdown will enter its 29th day on Saturday.

Caption: TSA employee Gary Vetterli prepares a hot dog during lunch at Salt Lake City International Airport on Jan. 16. The government shutdown has generated an outpouring of generosity to TSA agents and other federal employees who are working without pay.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

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