EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — As the federal government shutdown continued for an 11th day on Saturday, Oct. 11, local organizations and businesses have stepped up to provide assistance to the thousands of federal workers across the Borderland.
Bodega Loya, a farmer’s market located in Socorro, is currently offering a 20% discount on all their fresh produce to impacted federal workers and military servicemembers.
“When people don’t get paid, it’s difficult for them to buy groceries and anything related to the household to feed their kids. So we decided to at least try to give them a small discount,” said Marty Loya, co-owner of Bodega Loya.
Ralph Loya, Marty’s husband and co-owner of Bodega Loya, said that this is part of a small effort to pay back their large military clientele.
“We have a lot of them that come in from the East Coast, say Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, different parts of the country. And, and they say, ‘We’ve been here at Fort Bliss and we’ve been looking for a farmer’s market. And we finally found one. Back home you could find people selling their goods up and down the road, and it’s been really hard to find it here.’” Ralph Loya said.
“We’re going to try our best to pay forward what we can — for the community, for our soldiers, for our furloughed government employees. We’re here for you,” Ralph Loya said.
Bodega Loya is located at 10257 Socorro Rd.
Meanwhile, local credit unions, utility companies, and other organizations hosted a resource fair Saturday morning to connect families, federal workers, and servicemembers with programs designed to help them navigate the shutdown.
“Almost every credit union in our community and even national credit unions who have a presence in our community are offering loans to federal employees. And in many cases these are zero-interest loans,” said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. “Even if you have bad credit and if you are a federal employee, if you are a soldier, or the spouse of a soldier in town, go talk to First Light Federal Credit Union. They are waiving the credit checks.”
KTSM also created a government shutdown resource guide with information and links to resources for federal workers affected in Texas and New Mexico.
You can find that resource page below.
Resources, information available for those affected by government shutdown
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