WISCONSIN – With the US government partial shutdown in its fifth week, the local Muslim community in Wisconsin have raised $50,000 in loans to affected federal workers, Wisconsin State Journal reported.

“All Wisconsinites are like one body,” said Masood Akhtar, coordinator of the project.

“If one part of the body aches, the rest of the body feels pain. We just want to let our federal employees know that we are feeling their pain and we will try to help them out as much as possible.”

Akhtar said Muslim hope the loans would help federal employees struggling to pay their bills.

Workers can borrow up to $5,000 with flexible repayment schedules, he said.

These interest-free loans are offered to all workers, regardless of their faith, color, or background.

Under the American Constitution, Congress is supposed to periodically pass bills that approve spending for the federal government.

In practice, those spending bills can last a few weeks or months or a whole year; they can fund the full government or just parts of it.

Whenever the current spending bill expires, lawmakers must pass a new one to keep the government running. If they don’t, the federal government starts to shut down sometimes partially, like the case since December 21, 2018.

During the weekend, Muslims in Kentucky and South Carolina provided free meals to airport employees who have been going without payment since  a month ago.

In Tennessee, a falafel Syrian restaurant in Tennessee, which was dubbed Nicest Place in America, has also been feeding government workers affected by the shutdown.