MCKINNEY (1080 KRLD) - Anne Powell is putting others above herself, harnessing local businesses to help her bring some smiles to those struggling during the shutdown.
Powell is a food inspector for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, as well as the vice president of Dallas Food Inspectors Local 681. Her job is to inspect meat and processing facilities every day.
Powell herself has worked without pay since the shutdown started. However, her thoughts are for her fellow inspectors who may be dealing with more.
"I wanted to do something that shows it's not just us who care about these inspectors, but that the community cares too," she says. "It's about the inspectors feeling like they're heard. They're struggling along too, but they feel the TSA has taken a lot of the attention here."
Powell has reached out to places around McKinney to see if they want to contribute to the care packages. So far, she's gotten some enthusiastic responses.
"Cookies in Bloom is going to contribute some cookies of course," she says. "And their next door neighbor Yummy Life Naturals will put in soaps and bath fizzies and that kind of thing."
Like many others, Powell and her fellow FSIS inspectors are trying to make ends meet by cutting back or deferring payments.
"Not everyone has three months of savings put by for emergencies," she says. "We've got kids at home. Some of our inspectors have aging family members who they're caring for."
Still, Powell says she's not going to quit on her job or on the public.
"You've got workers coming in without pay every day to protect the public, and we're going to do that," she says. "We're not calling out or calling in."
Powell says she often donates to food or coat drives, and it's a bit hard to now be on the receiving end of people's charity.
"We just want people to understand that we're out there and doing the best we can," she says.
Powell and her partners at Cookies in Bloom and Yummy Life Naturals are now planning to take the care package idea to the McKinney Chamber of Commerce, to see if more businesses or city leaders want to join in the effort.
