Colorado Springs restaurant gives free meals to government employees during shutdown

A downtown Colorado Springs restaurant is giving away free meals to government employees who are not being paid during the partial government shutdown.

Poor Richard’s Downtown will give a free meal to government employees and their families when a government ID is presented at the restaurant.

The owner and City Council President, Richard Skorman says, “We’ll do it as long as we can. We want to make sure people have this opportunity.”

The restaurant says it will give free meals every week of the shutdown and urge other businesses to follow suit.

Poor Richard’s will begin giving the free meals starting at 11 a.m. Thursday. The restaurant is located at 324.5 N. Tejon St. in downtown Colorado Springs.

One family of four who came to get a pizza said they were thankful for the service.

Jen Torres, who works as a non-essential employee with the Department of Homeland Security said, “people have the conception that this is a vacation, but it isn’t. There’s no guarantee I get a paycheck.”

She’s one of the 53,200 people in the state of Colorado who are out of work until the government reopens.

Torres came in with her husband and two kids and said she hopes to get, “back to work and that my co-workers and other federal workers around the nation get back-pay.”

Just hours after opening, Skorman received a donation from another local business after hearing about his cause.