CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — The partial government shutdown is hitting home with hundreds of the more than 800,000 unpaid federal workers living here in Charlotte.
And with the shutdown approaching the four-week mark, every day is getting tougher for those workers. Which is why many local businesses and charities are doing their part to help ease the pain of going unpaid by giving out freebies for federal workers.
One of those places is uptown coffee shop, Queen City Grounds.
"As a coffee shop, we're part of the community and it's our job the serve the community," said Queen City Grounds bar manager Dillon Williams. "It's only our part to offer something that we can do, and batch coffee is one thing that we can easily give out to people who need it."
If you show your federal ID, you'll get a free batch-brew coffee from now until the government reopens.
Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens is hoping to help relieve a little stress by offering free admission to furloughed employees. The Color Bar hair salon in Waxhaw is giving free haircuts, and over at Be Yoga, they're giving a complimentary Early Bird Class to federal employees through January and possibly through the end of the shutdown.
"Be Yoga is for the community always, first and foremost," said marketing coordinator for Be Yoga, Destinee Washington. "So in the midst of all the other struggles that are going on, this government shutdown has hit those government employees hard and we want to support our community and show them that we care."