With the longest government shutdown in U.S. history leaving many federal employees without a salary and a nationwide mess in its wake, now is a prime opportunity for all companies—large and small, public and private—to band together in the name of helping others, uniting toward a greater good.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...