Potential Shutdown Support for EPA Employees and SEE Enrolees at EPA
There is considerable uncertainty about funding for EPA and other Federal Departments and Agencies as March 2026 begins. The Association has been watching developments closely over many months and doing contingency planning should appropriations for EPA lapse. Information on how we might proceed is described below. The links below will take prospective donors and recipients to pages where they can register should we need to initiate the assistance program. Check back here for updates on the status of Shutdown Support.
Quick Links
Need Assistance?
EPA Employees (below Grade 12) and SEE Program Participants Working at EPA who have had their pay interrupted by the lapse in appropriations and need assistance click here: www.epaalumni.com/shutdownrecipients
Want to Help?
EPA Alumni who wish to provide assistance to EPA Employees or SEE program participants working at EPA please click here: www.epaalumni.com/shutdownrdonors
2024 Shutdown Support Background and Operational Details
The EPA Alumni Association knows that some EPA employees and SEE Enrollees working at the Agency may face serious financial hardship in the event of a prolonged government shutdown. As we did in 2019, we are facilitating assistance from our members for these employees and enrollees.
The Association is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of former EPA employees, founded in 2008, with over 2,000 members who served as EPA employees for at least one year. Members live in all states and some foreign countries. More information can be found at www.EPAalumni.com.
The Association has been communicating with EPA leadership and ethics officials. We want to make sure that no person participating in the Shutdown Support program is in jeopardy of violating ethics rules. This makes the program somewhat complicated for the Association and member donors, but participating as a recipient of assistance should be relatively simple and straightforward.
Ethics rules provide that no Federal employee may receive cash gifts. Additionally, employees cannot accept more than $20 in the form of a non-cash gift at any one time from a particular person or entity. Therefore, we will be working with our members to send multiple gift cards with a value of $20 to each recipient. These gift cards will come from grocery stores and drug stores. They may be either physical cards sent by mail or electronic “cards” sent by email. The Association will also purchase and distribute gift cards. One hope is that each recipient will get ten gift cards with a total value of $200.
Recipients of Shutdown Support
If you will experience significant hardship during a prolonged shutdown and wish to participate as a recipient of assistance, you must be at grade 12 or below or a SEE Enrollee working at EPA. Please click the link below and provide information needed to verify that you are working at EPA and contact information so the gift cards can be sent to you. None of the information you provide will be used by the Association for any purpose other than the Shutdown Support effort.
(Button for Potential Recipients)
Association Members
If you are a Member of the EPA-AA and you wish to help current EPA employees and SEE Enrollees, please click the link below which will take you to a registration form. This form will give us the information we need to match you with potential recipients. We will ask your how many potential recipients you can help with a $20 gift card for each recipient. Helping ten employees/enrollees would mean purchasing 10 gift cards at $20 for a total of $200. The information you provide will be used by the Association only for the Shutdown Support effort. To reduce the potential for fraud, we suggest purchasing gift cards online rather than purchasing them in-person from a store.
(Button for Donors/Supporters)
The “matchmaking” process for connecting donors and recipients is somewhat complicated. We ask you to register to participate now so that there will not be a significant delay in distributing gift cards. Thank you to donors for your willingness to help EPA employees and SEE enrollees.