GoFundMe Announces Nonprofit Partners for Government Shutdown Fund; Distributes $200,000

The Fund will help with food, counseling, housing for government workers impacted

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Jan 23, 2019, 15:40 ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, GoFundMe announces that it has issued the first round of grants from its Government Shutdown Direct Impact Fund, partnering with four nonprofit organizations who are providing support to civil servants and contractors currently furloughed or working without pay.

The organizations who each received the first round of $50,000 grants include: World Central Kitchen, The National Diaper Bank Network, Feeding America, and the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund (FEEA). These organizations are providing essential resources during the government shutdown including food, diapers and grants to low income federal workers.

"In just a few days, the GoFundMe community came together and raised enough money for tens of thousands of meals, hundreds of thousands of diapers, and other critical resources for federal workers and contractors struggling to get by," said GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon. "I hope this shutdown ends. In the meantime, we will continue to support our federal workers and contractors during the shutdown."

GoFundMe partnered with Deepak Chopra to create the relief fund which has raised more than $275,000 from nearly 4,000 donors in four days.

Additional grants will be announced in the coming days. For any federal workers in need of support, please see the resources for each of these partners:

World Central Kitchen
701 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC, 20004

The Kitchen and Cafe is open from 11am to 6 pm daily. The Kitchen and Cafe will provide free hot meals and to-go items for federal employees in need and their families.

The Resource Center is open from 9am to 5pm daily. The Resource Center will provide support, groceries, diapers, and pet food to employees on furlough.

To volunteer, please visit:
https://www.worldcentralkitchen.org/join-chefsforfeds/

National Diaper Bank Network
For help identifying resources in their local community, furloughed federal employees and their families in need of diaper assistance are encouraged to complete the NDBN Request Form available: http://bit.ly/2FLP2f5

Diaper assistance is being provided to furloughed workers and their families in the following communities and locations:

Dallas – Hope Supply Co.
Kaukauna (Wisc.) – Jake's Diapers
Rhode Island – Project Undercover
Philadelphia – Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank
North Carolina – Diaper Bank of North Carolina
San Antonio – Texas Diaper Bank
Seattle – WestSide Baby
St. Louis – St. Louis Area Diaper Bank
Waco (Texas) – Waco Diaper Bank
Washington, D.C. – Greater DC Diaper Bank

Feeding America
Feeding America's mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage the country in the fight to end hunger. Every $1 donated helps provide at least 10 meals.

Please visit Feeding America's Food Bank Locator to connect with your local food bank: https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank

The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund (FEEA)
The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund through its emergency assistance program will assist low-income federal employees facing unforeseen hardships due to the partial government shutdown. Federal employees with an annual salary of $35,000 or less who have been furloughed or are working in excepted status and not receiving pay can receive a $100 grant to help cover essentials like groceries gas, and diapers. While this micro grant does not replace missing pay, FEEA hopes it will help federal employees with things like feeding their families or paying commuting costs.

Federal employees in need can apply at: http://feea.org/shutdown/

To view the statement from GoFundMe CEO, Rob Solomon please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/cause/shutdown

To view the Government Shutdown Direct Impact Fund, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/govshutdown

About GoFundMe
Launched in 2010, GoFundMe is the world's largest free social fundraising platform, with over $5 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 50 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

SOURCE GoFundMe