CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – As the federal government approaches being the longest shutdown on record, about 800,000 government employees are furloughed or working without pay.
In the greater Charleston area, several businesses are working to provide relief to local government employees affected by the shutdown.
King and Fields Studios, located in downtown Charleston, will offer government employees free headshots until the shutdown ends.
“We’re not just doing a short-term solution," King and Fields Studios Owner Raheel Gauba said. “We could be helping people with their new careers, their new lives, moving forward.”
Gauba said he is offering the deal to give people the opportunity to find a new job, if they are looking for one.
The offer for free headshots will extend until the shutdown ends.
Gauba said offering help to people without work during the shutdown isn’t a partisan decision.
“Our friends, our families, our neighbors are hurt, and that’s what matters," Gauba said. "We cannot have them go through this. We have to do whatever we can in our power to help out however we can.”
Ben D’Allesandro, one of the owners of D’Allesandro’s Pizza in downtown Charleston, is also offering outreach to government employees here in the Holy City.
Ben and his brother Nick brought free pizzas to TSA agents at the Charleston International Airport on Thursday.
“There’s actually people a few miles away from here, even downtown at the Coast Guard base, probably all around that this is affecting," Ben said.
Ben said the agents were thankful for free pizza when they delivered it.
He said he is hoping to deliver free pizza to government workers again if the shutdown continues.
“There’s not much we here at the local pizza level can do to stop the shutdown, but hopefully we can make people feel a little better during it," Ben said.
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