It’s Thursday night and there are plenty of customers at José Andrés’s restaurant, located on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the United States Capitol. That’s not surprising when you consider that Andrés is a world-class chef, the proprietor of numerous eateries worldwide. The only difference is that his customers in Washington are furloughed government workers, and the meals he’s serving are free.

Andrés founded his non-profit World Central Kitchen in 2010 to provide food to needy people across the globe. Since then, Andrés has served 3 million meals to disaster victims in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Zambia, Peru, Cuba, Uganda, and Cambodia. Now, he’s come to Washington, D.C.

“We usually respond to natural disasters, where people have lost their homes,” Tim Kilcoyne, head chef at the kitchen, told Mishpacha. “The current project is different from our usual mandate, but in essence, it’s exactly the same thing. The idea is to feed the needy. With the shutdown going on for four weeks, people aren’t getting paid, and it’s starting to hurt.”

Since it opened last week, about 6,000 meals have been served to government workers, who can also take food home to their families. The kitchen will stay open as long as the shutdown drags on. “When you don’t get your paycheck, one of the first things you start to think about is food. People are definitely struggling right now. It’s hard. Not everyone has a nest egg they can fall back on.”

Tal Solobek, an Israeli-American employed by the Justice Department, says it’s tough to manage without a month’s salary. “I have some help from my family, some savings, so meanwhile I’m okay, but at the end of the month I’m going to have to borrow money from my family or friends to pay the rent,” he said. If the shutdown continues, Solobek says he’ll look for a temporary job, but he’s sure a solution will be found in the end. “I’m optimistic. When I served in the Golani division in 2009, one of my fellow soldiers used to say that as long as things aren’t good, it means we haven’t reached the end yet. Because in the end, it’ll always be good.”

(Excerpted from Mishpacha, Issue 745)