In efforts to support military members and civilian employees at Scott Air Force Base during the government shutdown , a local restaurant has served at least 600 free meals and a business association has collected $15,000 in donations.

The Metro East military base employs roughly 13,000 people between active-duty members, civilians and contractors. While the service members got paid this week , roughly half of civilians at military installations had been furloughed. At Scott , there are 5,300 civilian government employees.

Soulcial Kitchen , a restaurant and food-truck park in Swansea, has been giving away free meals, along with other partner restaurants, since the shutdown began at the start of the month. Founder John Michel, a retired Air Force general, said his team

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