January 25, 2019 — Fishing companies that work off Alaska are donating money to Coast Guard workers who — despite missing paychecks — continue to conduct safety exams and patrols, and stand ready to respond to disasters at sea.
The fundraising effort was kicked off earlier this week by Chris Woodley, a retired Coast Guard captain who now serves as executive director of the Groundfish Forum, a Seattle-based trade group that represents five companies that operate 19 catcher-processors off Alaska.
The fundraiser is part of a much broader effort to help federal workers facing financial difficulties in the partial government shutdown that has resulted from the political impasse between Congress and President Donald Trump over funding of a border wall.
“As a former Coast Guardsman stationed in Alaska, I cannot overstate how much our assistance can mean to a Coast Guard family in need,” Woodley wrote in an online fundraising letter.