Local organization helping to raise money for government workers in need

We’ve now reached day 25 of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

As a result, there are many families in Lincoln trying to get by without a paycheck, and in need of help.

“Cash is getting short and so we decided, what can we do to help our fellow workers,” said Harold Klaege.

Klaege is the president of the Capital City Lincoln Chapter of NARFE.

It stands for National Active and Retired Federal Employees.

The organization is getting involved to help raise funds.

“So far, including this morning, we have raised about $500.00. We’ve had needs out there that exceed $5,000 so we hope that maybe we can get $5,000 or more,” said Klaege.

The Lincoln NARFE chapter has set up a Go Fund Me page and it’s easily accessible through their Facebook.

The money raised will go directly to the families impacted – paying for things like food, housing, car payments and utilities.

“It’s day by day, they can’t pay their bills. I was talking to one individual, I asked her, have you been down to the office for unemployment? She goes, “Yeah, but I need some papers to fill the rest of it out and my office is closed, I can’t get on the computer in the office. There’s no way for me to even finish the paperwork required to get funding,”” said Klaege.

The organization is helping with seven Lincoln families right now.

If they raise enough money, they will try to reach out to even more.

Klaege says he has heard stories from multiple agencies, warning their employees not to talk about the shutdown.

If they do, they will be fined.

“This shutdown has been affecting everybody because it’s from day to day. I used to work for the agency, I’m retired. We’ve had shutdowns before but they’ve never went this far. How long do you go before you try to get help,” said Klaege.

Harold was a federal employee for over 37 years.

After hearing the stories of these workers’ families, and seeing no end in sight to the government shutdown, he is asking for help on their behalf.

“This is a way to ensure those people get some assistance while they are going through this turmoil. As an old employee I’ve been through it but this is a shutdown of history in length, so what comes tomorrow, what comes next week, where are we going to go,” said Klaege.

The Lincoln Chapter of NARFE has also set up a way to donate at local Wells Fargo locations.

If you’d like to learn more, head to their Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/capitolcitynarfe/?ref=bookmarks.

The Go Fund Me page can be found here if you’d like to donate: www.gofundme.com/helping-federal-employees-impacted-by-the-shutdown.