SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - With the government shutdown in its 34th day on Thursday, furloughed employees on Delmarva are feeling the sting of living without a paycheck, including those who protect our area waters. In an attempt to make life a bit easier for members of the U.S. Coast Guard during the shutdown, a gift card drive has been organized. Rich King, president of Delaware Surf Fishing and the organizer of the gift card drive, said, "I wanted to help out the United State Coast Guard which helps us all the time. These guys are working and they're not getting paid and they could use some help. We have a large enough network, we figured we could give them a little help." From 4-8 p.m. Thursday, King will be at the Crooked Hammock Brewery in Lewes collecting those gift cards. Anyone interested in helping out however must know the rules for making donations to the Coast Guard. Any donated gift cards cannot be valued at more than $20. Also, all gift cards must be fore goods and services. Cash gift cards, like Visa and American Express cards, cannot be accepted. King is going to collect all of the donations on Thursday night and drop them off at the Indian River Coast Guard station on Friday morning and he has no doubt the local community is going to step up and help. "It's a sign of the entire community. This whole community, when you ask them, they bond together and help them out. And that's the beauty of this place," King told WBOC. Anyone interested in making a donation can not only drop off the gift cards Thursday evening at the Crooked Hammock, but can also make donations at Easy Speak Spirits in Milford on Thursday as well. Just down the coast is another Coast Guard station, this one in Ocean City. And those guard members are not being forgotten either. Sarge Garlitz with American Legion Synepuxent Post #166 tells WBOC that his organization along with others in and around Ocean City are also collecting gift cards. Garlitz said they try and drop them off once a week and he is encouraging anyone who wants to help out to do so. "So anybody who would want to donate a $20 gift card can drop them off here at the American Legion," Garlitz said. Post #166 is located on Philadelphia Avenue in Ocean City.
Gift Card Drives Benefiting Guardsmen on Delmarva
