On Monday, the only Haitian restaurant at Miami International Airport began offering free lunch and dinner to federal security screeners, TSA employees and other employees who have been working without pay during the government shutdown.
Chef Wilkinson “Ken” Sejour, owner of the Haitian restaurant Chef Creole said he’d given away nearly 350 meals by Monday. Some uniformed TSA workers couldn’t leave their spots, so colleagues brought lists for take-out.
Sejour says he relies on workers for much of his business. When he heard them saying they couldn’t afford to eat there anymore, he said “bull” and decided to offer up free food.
“These people are here every day,” said owner Wilkinson Sejour. “It’s not like they don’t want to work, they want to work — they just aren’t getting paid.”
“Today I was honored and humbled to show our appreciation & gratitude to TSA workers affected,” said the Chef.
TSA workers are among the 800,000 federal workers affected by the shutdown, which began Dec. 22.
