Federal Workers Turn to GoFundMe as Government Shutdown Wears On
As the government shutdown drags into its 12th day, and nearly 800,000 federal employees across the country don’t know when their next paycheck will arrive, some have turned to the crowdsourcing website GoFunMe, asking strangers for assistance during their financial uncertainty.
Julie Burr, a single mom and contracted government worker from Kansas City, Missouri, created a GoFundMe page two days after Christmas asking the public for help. “I’m losing pay every day that this government shutdown continues,” Burr wrote. “I’ve taken on extra shifts at my 2nd job but it isn’t going to pay rent and all my bills… I’m in panic mode right now.”
The GoFunMe website currently has over 1,000 results for pages regarding the government shutdown. The majority of federal workers who’ve posted pages on the site are asking for amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Most of the pages have yet to receive any donations.