MISSOULA – The effects of the partial federal government shutdown are continuing to be felt in Western Montana.
Dozens of furloughed federal employees gathered together for a garage sale on Sunday in an effort to make some extra money.
Other members of the community came throughout the day to drop off items and cash to help out. They sold bikes, movies, magazines, and many more miscellaneous items.
For many of those involved in the event, it wasn’t just about raising money.
“I think the main objective is just to bring awareness. That it’s not just a problem that’s far off it’s a problem that’s you know impacting local communities small towns,” said Shaw Faiella who works for the US Forest Service.
“So we just wanted to bring awareness to people and just kind of show our support for another we tend to do that pretty well especially in the fire community,” he added.
Some 800,000 government employees missed their first paycheck of the shutdown this past Friday.
Several Western Montana financial institutions are also offering help to employees who are affected by the shutdown including Farmer’s State Bank, Missoula Federal Credit Union and Stockman Bank.
