Dr. Frank Miller and Rabbi Craig Lewis, of Mizpah Congregation, deliver 60 gift cards for TSA employees to Transportation Security Manager Ryan Lierow Tuesday at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport. The gift cards were worth $20 each, according to Miller.As the government shutdown marked its 25th day Tuesday, local residents got creative with how they could help fellow Chattanoogans and federal employees who received zeros on their paychecks Friday.
Dr. Frank Miller of the Mizpah Congregation off McCallie Avenue was so moved by the sermon of the congregation’s rabbi, Craig Lewis, last week that he organized members of the synagogue, his friends and neighbors and raised $1,200 in donations for federal employees at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.
Lewis said the Jewish religious text the Torah teaches in the book of Leviticus that a person should not hold back a laborer’s wages.
“Even without going into who is at fault – who is to blame for the current government shutdown – there’s a recognition that there’s something terribly wrong when people are working hard and not earning their wages,” Lewis said.
Just outside of the airport’s security checkpoint Tuesday afternoon, Miller and Lewis presented 60 Walmart gift cards for $20 each to the airport’s manager of transportation security, Ryan Lierow. According to Lierow, there are 60 federal workers at the airport, including Transportation Security Administration employees.