By Mark Moran
Rural Arizona families are feeling the effects of the government shutdown as tens of thousands of federal workers have lost their jobs amid the impasse.
Labor leaders and elected officials are asking for donations to help people make ends meet. Nearly 35,000 federal workers in Arizona have been furloughed.
Omar Algeciras, regional vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2391, said it is having a direct effect on people's ability to make ends meet, and is especially true in rural parts of the state, where established assistance programs are not as accessible as they are in larger places.
"What we're trying to do is make sure that they have food to eat, that they have the essentials that they need in life," Algeciras explained. "So that they can continue to do what they need to do on a day-to-day basis."
Algeciras pointed out the American Federation of Government Employees has established donation sites at the Arizona Food Bank Network and Arizona AFL-CIO local offices to help furloughed workers meet their basic needs.
Algeciras noted that despite some perceptions federal workers are highly paid, the shutdown and related furloughs means tens of thousands of Arizonans cannot pay their bills.
"Federal workers are not rich," Algeciras emphasized. "They are normal American workers that, some of them, live paycheck to paycheck, and this, unfortunately, has put a lot of people in a predicament where they are having to really humble themselves down and ask for assistance."
The shutdown has stretched into its third week. Critical social service programs, including funding for the Women, Infants and Children program, will run out of money at the end of the month if no deal is reached.