SARC Project Distributes Free Crockpots to STLCC Students

Many students at St. Louis Community College face food insecurity, which makes it very difficult to focus on their education.

Fortunately, STLCC’s Student Advocacy & Resource Center supports students’ academic and personal success by assisting them in meeting their basic needs and navigating barriers that may interfere with achieving their educational goals. 

To that end, Linda Safi came up with a project for students who may need help creating healthy meals for their families. Through the Culinary Care project, 85 crockpots were given to students, along with simple, healthy recipes and meal kits. 

Safi is a practicum student from Saint Louis University who is interning with Meramec’s SARC program.

This initiative is Safi’s capstone project to complete her bachelor’s degree in social work at SLU. She is on track to complete her master’s degree in social work in May 2025. 

“One of Linda’s main learning objects while at practicum has been addressing students’ food insecurity,” said Mayuko McGuire, Meramec’s SARC coordinator. “SARC was considering a project to address students’ food insecurity, and Linda offered her leadership for this project. She knew how busy college students were and thought a crockpot/meal giveaway kit would be beneficial to many.”

SARC funding allocated from student services fees was used to purchase the crockpots, and SARC student workers helped create and distribute the meal kits.

“I think the project was quite successful, and hopefully many students will continue to benefit from it,” Safi said. “The students appreciated the kits. We have received a lot of positive feedback from student surveys.”

McGuire hopes to use survey results to enhance SARC’s services.

“We use a strengths-based and solutions-oriented approach to address crises, resolve concerns, develop capacity, and promote health and well-being for individuals, the College, and our communities,” McGuire said. “We plan to continue monitoring responses from this survey to determine how we can continue to help students who seek our services achieve their goals.”