You Can Now Send A Furloughed Federal Worker A Beer

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By  Gwen Ihnat

We have a lot of different opinions in this country, but most everyone can agree that the current government shutdown is terrible. Among the hardest hit are the federal employees who just passed a payday without a paycheck. Many businesses and individuals are helping these workers where they can, from restaurants offering them free meals, to Canadian air-traffic controllers sending pizza to their U.S. counterparts who are currently working without pay.

You may wonder how you can help. Now, Washington City Paper reports, thanks to new website PayItFurloughed.com, you can at least send a furloughed worker a beer or two. As the D.C site explains on its intro page, "Beer makes everything better, so we're buying local craft brews for federal employees impacted by the government shutdown."

You can send out one beer for $7.50, two for $15, or a six-pack for $45. Any furloughed employees just have to show their federal I.D. at one of the participating breweries to collect. That way, "stressed out federal employees, who are furloughed or working without pay, score free liquid therapy." The site also benefits by promo-ing the small craft breweries who are providing the beer, and we can attest after sending out a few beers to some anonymous workers that you get a little altruism boost afterward. As the site says, "It's a win-win-win."

Washington City Paper says that the project stems from "food incubator Mess Hall headed by Al Goldberg, food writer Nevin Martell, and app development agency 3Advance, with an assist from former Hill employee Erick Sanchez." So far, local D.C. Breweries Atlas Brew Works and DC Brau Brewing Company are the first to sign on to provide the beer. (Our editor/beer writer Kate Bernot highly recommends DC Brau's imperial IPA, On The Wings Of Armageddon.)

As of this writing, there are nearly 300 beers available for purchase, 307 have been donated, and eight have been enjoyed. Not bad for a site that just launched yesterday, but get drinking, furloughed federal employees! At least until this record-length impasse has finally concluded.

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