US: GoFundMe becomes lifeline during shutdown

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - As the partial government shutdown reaches day 25, government employees have turned to online fundraising platforms to cover expenses while they wait to receive paychecks.

Many workers took to GoFundMe to launch pleas for help, revealing the negative impact that the shutdown has had on a workforce of around 800,000 employees.

More than 1,500 fundraising campaigns have been created on the crowdfunding site, spokeswoman Katherine Cichy told CNN on Tuesday.

Accounts have raised around $300,000 since January, when many of the accounts were made.

Arizona resident Jo Ann Goodlow took to GoFundMe after the shutdown caused her paychecks to stop. Goodlow, a single mother, wondered how she was going to provide for her three children, two of whom are adopted relatives.

"I do work a part-time job, and have taken on some extra hours to try to make do. But the realty of it is that those extra hours, plus donating plasma twice a week for money are barely enough to pay the utilities," Goodlow said on her campaign page.

"The struggle is definitely real for me now."

She was able to raise more than $14,000, surpassing her target goal of $5,000.

Anna Cory, a librarian from North Carolina and contractor with the Environmental Protection Agency, first posted a “Government shutdown online yard sale” on Facebook to raise funds while she was not receiving a paycheck. She is selling rare and antique books from the 1800s.

"As a librarian, that’s what I value, that’s what I treasure. It hurts to let this stuff go," Cory told The Washington Post. "I've had a couple friends who've said, ‘I wish we could buy your things and just give them back to you,’ which would be fantastic but it’s not always feasible."

She created her campaign last Friday, and in four days was able to raise more than $4,000, which she said gives her a little more breathing room as she continues to look for a permanent job.

The common thread between many of the fundraising efforts is the desire for the shutdown to end.

"We just want to get back to work," Cory told CNN.