The U.S. government sustained a record 43 day shutdown from Oct. 1, 2025 – Nov. 12, 2025. This halted federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, leaving millions of Americans without food to begin the month of November. The government stated recipients would receive their benefits by Nov. 17, 2025.
In 2022, DuPage County alone had 68,290 residents receiving SNAP benefits, according to the Federal Reserve Economic Data. Without these benefits, recipients were forced to find other ways to feed their families. A prime solution has been the West Suburban Community Pantry, WSCP, located in Woodridge, around the corner from the Seven Bridges Ice Arena.
CEO of the WSCP Maeven Sipes explains how the pantry prepared for an influx of customers and will remain on standby while people get back on their feet.
“Right now, we are just constantly monitoring the situation because we offer appointment times, and we are kind of able to tell if we are selling out. Our plan is to keep monitoring, and if we are getting to points we are not able to meet the demand, we will discuss other options like extending hours or offering more appointments,” Sipes said.
Despite the shutdown, the pantry tends to serve a lot of SNAP recipients regularly, as the benefits do not provide enough for a whole month.
“We usually hear from families that their SNAP benefits don’t cover the whole month as it is…. We typically see at the beginning of the month more families coming to us because it’s a new month and they are able to shop again. Families can visit our pantry twice a month in person and up to two more times on our online market,” Sipes said.
To help the food pantry, there are multiple ways the community can get involved.
“If you’re in a position and you are able to donate financially, that is always a way we are able to stretch the dollar. If you are able to do food donations or a food drive, that can make an impact. A fun way to do it is to donate all of one type – do a cereal drive or a peanut butter and jelly drive. When we have a lot of one item, we can get it out quicker,” Sipes said.
Senior and WSCP volunteer Ellie Trame shared the importance and benefits of volunteering at the pantry during this time.
“I believe that the food pantry could use many more volunteers with the influx of people coming in. The pantry lets you choose how you want to volunteer by giving you options from delivering to people’s homes to stocking the shelves in the pantry. It’s a really good way to give back to the community by being able to choose what volunteer work you want to do,” Trame said.
During this time, the pantry is leaning on the goodness of the community and the hard work behind the scenes to continue to aid those in need.
“Fortunately, when times are tough like this, the silver-lining is when the community members step up and want to help their neighbors, which is how we are able to get through it,” Sipes said.
