Grindstone Coffeeology, a coffee truck located primarily in Huntington, offered a 25 percent discount to all federal employees who’s pay was affected by the government shutdown.

Brendan Fenn, owner, followed politics worldwide since he was young. He took part in an election in Australia before he moved to the United States in 2015. Though Fenn could not vote, he still observed politics and watched as the United States government shut down.

“I looked at the way politics have deteriorated into strictly partisan war,” Fenn said. “It happened in Australia, and it’s happening in the U.S. as well.” 

Federal employees were told that they would not receive payment until the government shutdown was over. Some were told they would be told to go home on Monday, others were told they’d have to continue working with no pay.

“It’s horrible to see that one of the largest work forces in the U.S. can be told to go home and work without pay for the duration of this circus,” Fenn said.

In an effort to give back, and help those going without an income during the shutdown, Fenn gave a 25 percent discount to all federal workers who were  affected during this time.

“I wish I could give stuff away for free,” Fenn said, “but this is all we can do and we’re happy to do it.”

Fenn not only wanted to help people directly, but he was hopeful others would see his effort and try to help as well.

“I hope this would cause people to get involved and talk to their local representatives and then decisions can be made,” Fenn said.

He was concerned about the impact on the lives of the federal employees who lived paycheck to paycheck and not the congressmen who volunteered to stop receiving pay as well until a solution was discovered.

“As noble as it is for these congressmen to say they won’t take paychecks while this is going on, that’s easy to say when you have a few thousand dollars a year,” Fenn said. “But when people are on the poverty line and living paycheck to paycheck, this is serious for them.”

Michaela Crittenden can be contacted at [email protected].