Restaurants and bars in D.C. are coming to the aid of federal employees who are without work, whether it’s by handing out free meals or coffee or offering bar shifts to furloughed former bartenders, as The Passenger did last weekend. But not everyone can make such gestures, says Al Goldberg, owner of D.C. food incubator Mess Hall.

“We see people giving away sandwiches and things, and I love what The Passenger is doing,” he says. “But not everyone owns a bar, right? People are wondering ‘What can I do.'”

One answer, with the help of the website he created with local food writer Nevin Martell, is to buy a furloughed friend a beer. Their Pay It Furloughed project allows people to donate money to a fund that federal workers can use to grab a beer at two D.C. breweries.

The idea came to Goldberg and Martell, also the team behind the annual D.C. chef pop up New Kitchens on the Block, over dinner last week. After discussing the shutdown’s impact on their friends and colleagues, as well as the news that Atlas Brew Works may not be able to sell its new beer without label approval from the federal government, the idea emerged to create a beer-focused charity project. Following a “72-hour hackathon,” as Martell puts it, from D.C.-based app developers 3advance, the Pay It Furloughed site launched on Sunday, with $1,000 (or about 130 beers) from Goldberg and Martell. As of Monday afternoon, funds for more than 300 beers have been donated, and eight have been redeemed.

Here’s how it works: On the Pay It Furloughed site, generous suds aficionados can donate one beer for $7.50, two for $15, or six for $45. Furloughed federal workers can redeem the deal at Atlas Brew Works and DC Brau by showing their federal employee or contractor ID. They’ll be able to select from a slimmed-down menu and can redeem as many as they’d like. (“We ask that people drink responsibly and not drink and drive,” Martell adds. “Our partners have the power to deny anyone service.”)

Both say there is room for the system to become more flexible. For example, using a federal ID as proof of employment excludes remote contractors and others who aren’t issued employee identification (as do many of the discounts and freebies across the city, for the record), but may still be furloughed or otherwise impacted by the shutdown. Martell says they’re working on it. “We’re trying to figure out a way to include other people that are legitimately affected, while at the same time not turning it into a free for all,” he says.

As of Wednesday, Pay It Furloughed has extended the deal to federal contractors who don’t have employer-issued IDs. According to Goldberg, those contractors are asked to self-identify as furloughed government contractors and to provide some sort of documentation of their work if possible.

Since the site launched on Sunday, Goldberg says they’ve been approached by other local food and beverage companies in the city to participate in the deal, and are planning to keep the site going for future government shutdowns or other crises that compel people to help, such as natural disasters.

Martell says the participating breweries are getting all of the funds donated for the beers, aside from small fees to keep the site running and for credit card transactions. That makes it likely more sustainable than offering discounts for weeks at a time.

“The hospitality industry gives so much free food and discounts, and all of that eats into their bottom line,” Martell says. “With this initiative, breweries are making full price on beers. … We’re not asking them to do or take less for hard work they’ve done.”

This post has been updated.