Muslims offer $50,000 interest-free loans to federal workers

WASHINGTON: Local Muslim Community is offering interest-free loans to federal employees in Wisconsin affected by the partial government shutdown.

Masood Akhtar, the president and founder of We Are Many-United Against Hate said that the Muslim community, feel their pain and therefore raised $50,000 in loans for those who are struggling to pay their bills.

“All Wisconsinites are like one body,” said Akhtar adding, “If one part of the body aches, the rest of the body feels pain. We just want to let our federal employees know that we are feeling their pain and we will try to help them out as much as possible.”

Regardless of their faith, color, or ethnicity, these interest-free loans are offered to all workers. “Anybody who is a federal employee who is furloughed can apply for this,” he adds.

Muslims in Kentucky and South Carolina came up with a simple gesture to show they care: provided free meals and non-perishable foods to TSA agents were going weeks without paychecks.

Also, in a unique gesture, the Sikh community in Texas has offered free meals to fellow thousands of American government employees during the shutdown.

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Over 800,000 federal workers have gone without pay since December 22, when the shutdown came into place due to an impasse between the US Congress and US President Donald Trump. They are at loggerheads over funding for a wall on USA’s southern border with Mexico, leading to the shutdown.

The shutdown completed 35 days on January 25.