Food distribution set for federal workers on Long Island as government shutdown continues

Long Island Cares is hosting an emergency food distribution event on Thursday for all federal employees and their families in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The event is by appointment only and will take place at its Center for Community Engagement at 75 Davids Dr. in Hauppauge from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Participants must show their government employee credentials when arriving and must live in Nassau or Suffolk counties. They can register online beforehand.

Wednesday marked the 22nd day of the federal shutdown, which began on Oct. 1 after the U.S. Senate failed to pass a funding extension to keep the government open.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are furloughed or working without pay throughout the country and face a growing financial strain each day of the shutdown.

Some air traffic controllers are working without pay, union officials had previously told Newsday.

About 31,000 federal civilian workers live in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Newsday reported.

Buildings at federally run sites like the Theodore Roosevelt home at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay and welcome centers at the 10 areas of the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex are closed to the public, while their surrounding lands remain open.

Other sites like the William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach, run by the Fire Island National Seashore, closed their gates to the public.

Two weeks ago, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from firing workers during the government shutdown, saying the cuts appeared to be politically motivated and were being carried out without much thought, The Associated Press reported.