From the department of great ideas: A homeless shelter in Alexandria, Va. will hold a special day of service next week for furloughed workers affected by the shutdown.

In a release this morning, Carpenter’s Shelter said next Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. furloughed employees are invited to come assist with projects around the facility, which serves 1,000 homeless and formerly homeless people a year.

Carpenter’s sympathizes with the employees who have been affected by the furlough. Joblessness is a very real struggle that shelter residents face every day. It is frustrating to be out of work, even temporarily, but the furlough doesn’t mean you have to lose spirit. Maintain the sense of fulfillment you get from working hard at your job by working hard for the homeless.

Liz Salter, volunteer coordinator for Carpenter’s, said they do many service projects during the year and wanted to come up with something special for the furloughed workers. “I know how hard it is to be unemployed, especially this unexpected gap in their life where they can’t do any work,” she told DCist. “We tried to think of ways that people could get engaged and feel a sense of community with other people. And hopefully just take their minds off the situation for a couple of hours. We know, with out clients, it’s such a difficult thing for them to be unemployed.”

Furloughed workers may be asked to help organize the donation closet, do some yard work or help clean the kitchen, which served over 800 meals last year.

So Others Might Eat (SOME) in D.C. isn’t doing anything to target furloughed workers, but volunteer coordinator Seneca Wood said that five or six people have reached out because of the shutdown.

Wood said furloughed workers who want to volunteer are most needed in the dining room and can register online.

The Central Union Mission is also not doing anything special for furloughed workers, their communications manager Jocelyn Harris said. But, Harris added, they always have a need for volunteers and opportunities are ongoing.

The Capital Area Food Bank will have a group of furloughed employees volunteer this week, director of media and events Page Crosland said.

Miriam’s Kitchen is holding a special volunteer shift on Monday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for furloughed workers to create hot sauce for the meals program, director of communication Tom Murphy said. “Space is limited, so interested individuals are encouraged to RSVP with Chef Emily at emily@miriamskitchen.org.”

Bread for the City is planning to invite furloughed workers to an upcoming work day at their fruit orchard in Beltsville, Md., according to volunteer and in-kind manager Kristine Jensen. From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22, “volunteers will help weed, mulch and harvest the many varieties of crops we are growing to support our food pantry.” Interested volunteers should sign up to help by emailing volunteer@breadforthecity.org, Jensen said in an email.

Food and Friends will host a group of furloughed workers from Sen. Dick Durbin’s (I-Ill.) office on Friday, communications manager Chris Copley said. While volunteer shifts are booked well in advance, Copley said they are trying to accommodate furloughed workers who want to be of service.

The D.C. Diaper Bank will hold a volunteer day Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This post will be updated if more opportunities become available. If you know of any, please email tips@dcist.com.