Shutdown Shelf: Great Harvest Bread Co., customers donate to furloughed employees

stores at certain locations across the country have set up a “Shutdown Shelf,” donating bread to furloughed employees affected by the partial government shutdown.

One such shelf exists at the Rockbrook Village location off 108th And West Center Road. Its owners, Dennis and Marian Cihacek, told 6 News they were more than happy to put together the shelf.

The shelf is stocked with sliced white and wheat bread for families who are affected by the shutdown.

“This is actually giving them a chance to maybe not spend so much grocery money, maybe come get something to put into their tummies and maybe still be able to make their mortgage payments. It’s just our way of helping out those that are hurting,” Marian Cihacek said.

The shelf has only been up a couple of days, but Cihacek said the community support has been incredible. People have bought specialty loaves of bread to donate to the Shutdown Shelf.

“It melts my heart. I can tell you – when people see this, the first thing – it doesn’t even say buy a loaf. They just say, ‘Hey, I want to buy a loaf to put …’ It’s just everybody, almost everybody, does that. They say, ‘I want to put a loaf up on that shelf.’ It’s just something that resonates with everybody,” Cihacek said. “It doesn’t matter which side of the political fence you’re sitting on. It just resonates with everybody.”

The Shutdown Shelf will be up through the duration of the partial government shutdown and likely for a couple of weeks following its reopening, Cihacek said.