Jan. 16, 2019—On Monday, Signal Garage Auto Care in St. Paul and West St. Paul Minn., began giving free labor to government workers not receiving their paychecks in result of the government shutdown. Since then, they have received two local government employee phone calls in need of assistance, and one appointment.
Avi Derhy, manager of Signal Garage Auto Care, says the idea came to their team while watching the news.
“Something came across on the news about another business that was giving away free breakfast for anybody (government employees),” Derhy told Ratchet+Wrench. “And we thought, ‘is there something we can do just like that?’”
Derhy said the reaction from the public has been really positive, they have been receiving a lot of Facebook comments from customers and friends.
“Getting involved with the community, is worth a lot in the long run,” said Derhy. “Anything we can do to get our name out there and help people out is worth it.”
Any government employee that is currently not being paid and can go to Signal Garage Auto Care, show their government ID, and get up to $250 of free labor. That would cover the labor of a brake job or of an oil change, said Derhy.
“We’re not trying to start a political thing here,” he told Ratchet+Wrench, “we just thought it would be a good thing.”
