TENNESSEE – A falafel Syrian restaurant in Tennessee, which was dubbed Nicest Place in America, has been feeding government workers during the shutdown, ABC News reported.

“It’s important for me [to provide free meals] because these guys are our brothers and sisters, and they already did the work, and they aren’t getting paid,” Terou explained to “Good Morning America.”

“For someone like me who is living the American dream in the American land…I believe every hard worker should reach his goal and have a good level of life.”

Terou, a refugee who fled war in his home country of Syria seven years ago, has become a local symbol of the American dream.

During the past few years, he managed to become the owner of the most popular falafel restaurant in Tennessee.

Terou announced his free-meal initiative on Yassin’s Falafel House Facebook page, adding: “We are more than happy to serve them because they have been serving us all these days and we are not going to let them alone.” The post ended with the hashtag #weallneedloveplusfalafel.

The restaurant is the winner of this year’s Reader’s Digest Nicest Place in America accolade, welcoming people from all backgrounds, faiths, and walks of life

A sign posted at the entrance reads: “All sizes, all colors, all ages, all sexes, all cultures, all religions, all types, all beliefs, all people, safe here at Yassin’s Falafel House.”

Under the American Constitution, Congress is supposed to periodically pass bills that approve spending for the federal government.

In practice, those spending bills can last a few weeks or months or a whole year; they can fund the full government or just parts of it.

Whenever the current spending bill expires, lawmakers must pass a new one to keep the government running. If they don’t, the federal government starts to shut down sometimes partially, like the case since December 21, 2018.