TSA employee Princess Young, center, loads food into a car after visiting a food pantry for furloughed government workers affected by the federal shutdown on Wednesday in Baltimore.

The Catholic Charities office in Butler County will join with the group's other regional locations to offer help to federal government employees who have been furloughed or are working without pay.

Catholic Charities is offering the assistance at its main office in Pittsburgh and five regional offices including the Butler County office.

Available assistance and support includes bus vouchers, gasoline gift cards, prescription payments, baby care items, food gift cards for needed foods not available through the food bank, one month of utility assistance to avoid service shut offs and counseling services for workers in need of support.

Susan Rauscher, Catholic Charities executive director, providing help and support to federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown fits the organization's mission.

“It fits very much in the mission that we do. We make ourselves available when people are in need. Often times, that comes when the person asking for assistance doesn't do any to bring it on themselves — people who are suddenly and unexpectedly without income and are unable to meet their needs because of that,” Rauscher said.

Read more about this story in Thursday's Butler Eagle.