NOTE TO READERS: This story originally appeared in The Montage’s December 2025 issue.
BY: BRINN SMITH
News Editor
On Oct. 1, 2025, the United States government began a shutdown that lasted 43 days, ending on Nov. 13. This is the longest that the government has been shutdown in the history of the U.S. While normally during a shutdown, supplementary programs, such as the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), would continue to run and receive funding to send to the beneficiaries around the country, this time that didn’t happen.
On Nov. 1, SNAP beneficiaries did not receive the monthly funding to their cards, meaning that beneficiaries who rely on SNAP needed to turn to other resources in order to keep themselves fed. Thankfully STLCC Meramec has a resource for students to turn to, the Student Advocacy & Resource Center (SARC.) While the benefits didn’t reach beneficiaries on the first day of November, some beneficiaries were able to rely on the previous month’s leftover funds, so SARC had some time to prepare.
“It’s still the beginning of the month; the effect will probably come later,” SARC Coordinator Mayuko McGuire said. “We are seeing a lot of people trying to help us and our students.” Other clubs on the Meramec campus have been helping SARC through running their own food drives. “SGA and Chem Club are running a food drive together, and there is the Amazon Wishlist to go with it. People are trying to help,” McGuire said. “At the same time, our Empty Bowls event had a record sale. Everything got sold, and that was over $1,800.” With the success of events like Empty Bowls, SARC has been able to afford more resources to add to their food resource programs.
“We have different kinds of programs. Archers Market is the blanket term we use and that includes the Grab and Go, which is more like an eat on campus and go to classes without being hungry type of food, something that is easy to grab and eat,” McGuire said, “Then we have the food pantry, that’s more like ‘lets cook at home’ type of food, and then we have the personal care items to take home and school supplies to help students.”
These programs are not all that SARC offers, with the district offering a helping hand for students who are facing bigger food insecurity.
“For students who are really facing food insecurity and have a FAFSA on file and if they meet USDA food insecurity questions, they might be eligible for our Archer Meals program, which is access to on-campus hot meals,” McGuire said. “We have a partnership with American Dining, so students need to come talk to us and see if they’re eligible or not, but it’s another way that we help students on campus.”
The biggest takeaway from SARC was that everyone has their own unique situation, and they provide help for each.
“Food insecurity looks really different for each person. It could be because you don’t have time, you’re working during the time you can cook, you might not have a functional kitchen or you just can’t buy food, your money doesn’t last the entire month,” McGuire said, “but our goal is to support them as much as we can with the resources we have.”
