National Background
The longest government shutdown in history began on Oct. 1, 2025. As a result, all non-essential federal programs had a significant decrease in function, including the National Parks Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Health. While services like the Transportation Security Administration and Social Security continued on, they experienced significant delays and periods of low employment.
The shutdown began when Democrats in the House of Representatives opposed the Republican proposal for the division of funds for the 2026 fiscal year, which would not continue the expansion of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that were set to expire in November of 2025. Since the two parties could not agree on the specifications of this bill by the end of the 2025 fiscal year (Sept. 30), the government shutdown ensued.
The shutdown came to an end when both parties negotiated a bipartisan resolution and all of the Republicans in the Senate, as well as 8 Democrats, helped to pass it, ending the government shutdown and extending the deadline for a new resolution until Jan. 30, 2026.
Among the federally funded programs that were shut down is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), run by the United States Department of Agriculture, which provides monthly food benefits to low income families through Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service in 2024, 12.3 percent of Americans received SNAP benefits, while at the state level, 14 to 15.9 percent of Massachusetts residents were receiving benefits. In Brookline, only 4.1 percent of residents (2,613 people) were receiving benefits. The loss of SNAP benefits only lasted two weeks, as a court order from federal judges stated that contingency funds must be used to keep the program going.
For 14 days, SNAP was shut down. For 14 days, millions of people lacked the essential food security SNAP had provided them. For 14 days, Brookline residents lost access to these benefits.
Local Background
Head of School Anthony Meyer said that 17 percent of students at the high school qualify for free or reduced lunch and many students at the high school rely on SNAP.
“We have 600 students in the district receiving SNAP benefits, including 169 at the high school, so it’s not an insignificant percentage,” Meyer said.
The high school provides free lunches for students through the National School Lunch Program. The number of students who qualify for free lunch determines the federal reimbursement the school receives for food services, while the rest is funded by the Massachusetts state government, according to Director of Food Services in Brookline Public Schools Sasha Palmer. This funding was unaffected by the federal government shutdown in October and November because the funds had already been allocated.
Brookline Thrives is a program that aims to provide students from low income families in the Brookline school district with food during times when school is not in session, such as vacations or weekends. It is a branch of the Brookline Food Pantry, and focuses solely on children in the Brookline Public Schools.
Project Manager Sharon Brockmann said that Brookline Thrives sees firsthand how many families quietly struggle with food access.
“There’s no financial qualification. Anyone who feels they could benefit from a little extra food over the weekend can have it,” Brockmann said.
According to Brockmann, Brookline Thrives sends out about 410 bags home with kids every week, with 20 percent having allergy or dietary restrictions, and is funded largely from community donations and local grants. According to Palmer, the combination of state-funded free meals, SNAP benefits and additional local support form a safety net that many Brookline students depend on, even if the need often seems invisible.
“In Brookline we don’t think of food insecurity every day,” Palmer said. “We don’t have a lot of kids whose families are facing food insecurity, and those families falling through the cracks are always my greatest concern, families that really need help.”
Community Action
Palmer said Brookline Thrives was prepared for the shutdown.
“[Anticipation of the shutdown] was building up for weeks, the threat was there,” Brockmann said. “The conversation was going on amongst ourselves, amongst the food pantry staff and amongst the community. You just got a sense that something was going to happen.”
Palmer said she had been closely monitoring federal activities, considering the effects it would have on Thrives’ food service program, the free breakfasts and lunches the school provides, as well as SNAP services.
“For me, food insecurity is [a huge issue],” Palmer said. “As somebody that grew up with food insecurity, I’m very passionate. I’m constantly keeping abreast of any information that is going to affect my program.”
Once the shutdown began, the high school took immediate action, according to Meyer. Meyer said that teachers at the school began identifying students who might need additional help; deans, guidance counselors and social workers quietly worked behind the scenes to make sure support reached the right families without compromising privacy.
Additionally, a group of teachers organized a food drive separate from the high school’s efforts upon hearing that SNAP benefits were cut off and that many families in Brookline relied on them. Special education teacher Alexandra Zembruski, who organized the drive, said that she divided up the work among 20 to 25 staff members. She put together a list of the most needed items, as well as the most wanted items, and set about finding volunteers.
“What I decided to do for the first run was to have it be limited to all of the staff members who had reached out to say that they were interested in helping,” Zembruski said.
Beyond the school building, a town-wide coalition formed to respond to the loss of SNAP benefits and, according to Palmer, helped Brookline respond faster and more efficiently than any single organization could have done alone.
“It was people from all departments, the housing department, the food pantry, Brookline Thrives, the health department. We all came together and pooled our resources to determine what was the need and how each individual group can assist to supplement or to help supplement families who might be exposed or might be facing food insecurity,” Palmer said.
Brockmann said that with the loss of SNAP benefits, countless members of the community surged to provide help for those in need.
“We were inundated by inquiries from the public, from schools, just from everyday people wanting to help,” Brockmann said. “We had school PTOs do food drives. We had communities do food drives. Everyone just wanted to help, and they absolutely stood to attention and helped us.”
Zembruski said she was also impressed by community members who took initiative, and said these drives also helped raise awareness about the extent of food insecurity in Brookline.
“It was really wonderful to see how people stepped up when it turned out that the SNAP benefits weren’t coming or that they were indefinitely paused, and I think it also really showed people the scope of who is impacted by that,” Zembruski said.
Uncertainty in the Future
Even though the shutdown ended on Nov. 12, many of the concerns it revealed remain. Palmer said her greatest worry is the increasing instability of federal programs like SNAP and the administrative barriers families now face.
“There are going to be recertifications and more hoops that families will have to jump through,” Palmer said. “When you’re food insecure, you’re not pushing paperwork and completing applications. That’s the last thing you want to be thinking about.”
Brockmann also said there is concern that rising food prices, heating bills and fuel costs could push more families into food insecurity, adding pressure to programs like Brookline Thrives. She said that fluctuations in the economy often translate directly into demand for weekend food bags.
To continue supporting food insecure families, Zembruski said she is planning a bigger drive for the holiday season, another time when there is more of a need for food donations.
“I’m still planning to do another drive for the Brookline Food Pantry because missing two weeks of your food benefits in the month of November doesn’t just go away because it’s the month of December,” Zembruski said. “Obviously, it’s a time where families would like to be able to put money into things like gifts and celebrations, so I’m going to open it a bit more widely.”
Palmer said she and the high school were well prepared to take care of community members in need during the shutdown.
“High schoolers are the most vulnerable, because they are the least likely to ask for help,” Palmer said. “No kid should go hungry. If you need help, help is always there.”
Meyer also said that the shutdown illustrated how quickly federal-level decisions can impact local public school communities. He said they must remain prepared for sudden changes in funding or policy.
Despite the concerns that the shutdown brought to Brookline, Palmer said not many preparations or precautions can be taken for the future.
“It’s so volatile, we don’t know what is going to happen, and that’s the fear that we live with every day; we could wake up and something drastic happens, and we realize, we don’t have this anymore,” Palmer said.
Meyer said the shutdown brings concerns that surpass the local level.
“What do we do to make sure that we don’t have kids coming to school hungry and going home to families not having food?” Meyer said. “It’s super upsetting to think about the way that it must have hit for families who need support like that, and the callous disregard of basic humanity.”
