By Steve Teshara, Tahoe Chamber CEO

This week I’m writing to thank those local businesses, organizations, and individuals who stepped forward in response to our recent call to help employees of the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Some 120 of these employees were on extended furlough without pay due to the partial federal government shutdown.

As we know, the shutdown was ended last Friday, although it could return as of February 15 if no agreements are reached between congress and the president on budget expenditures going forward. The 35-day partial government shutdown created real challenges for those in our community who work for the federal government. We wanted to show our support for them during this time of need.

We thank the businesses and others who quickly stepped forward to offer assistance including Raley’s Market in Stateline, Tahoe Pourhouse, Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel, Sustainable Community Advocates, Temple Bat Yam, and Erik Watada State Farm Insurance as well as Debbie and Kirk Ledbetter.

Thanks also to representatives of Wellness, Recreation And Morale (WRAM), the non-profit Forest Service employee’s association for facilitating the transfer of donations.