The Shack offers credit to furloughed teachers

From left, The Shack Saipan owner Glen Hunter and staff Izza Camacho, Nina Kaipat, M.J. Sikelbert, Sid Romlor, and Henry Worswick. “At The Shack Saipan, we give high regard to our teachers,” Hunter said. (Bea Cabrera)

Immediately after news broke out that hundreds of public school teachers are being furloughed last week, The Shack Saipan heated their stoves, took out pans and pots, and opened their doors and extended food credit to them for the next three months.

“We’ve always had a steady stream of educational professionals at The Shack and they are part of our family… we initially heard of the 30% shortfall from teachers’ salaries two pay periods ago and were saddened. When we found out that the unexpectedly did not get paid at all this last pay period we felt we wanted to do something to help out,” owner Glen Hunter said.

“The entire team of The Shack decided that we would extend a 90-day credit terms on all purchases for any [Public School System] employees who happened to be furloughed. We realize there are so many people right now locally and abroad who are negatively impacted by the Covid-19. We realized we couldn’t help everyone, but we felt we were in a position to offer a little reprieve to educators who might be having a tough time with meals. We also extended this credit plan to all PSS personnel (teacher aides, counselors, support staff, and others) that were subject to furlough not just teachers,” Hunter added.

The Shack is akin to a highland bistro and a popular restaurant on Saipan that specializes in French-style crepes and local cuisine. They give emphasis on healthier items but provide home-style meals as well.

With this food credit, The Shack hows that it also offers comfort, friendship, love, and hope.

“I’ve always held I regard for anyone who makes it a passion in their life to educate others. I think the passing on of wisdom and skills is something that should always be promoted and supported,” Hunter said.

“I want PSS staff who are dealing with so much right now to have the ability to take one thing off of their mind temporarily and that is the ability for them to get food today without worrying about the financial aspect of that. We want them to understand that the community is in full support of them and hopes only the best for them and the rest of the world,” Hunter added.

Hunter is hopeful that other restaurants that are still operating would be able to give some kind of assistance not only to teachers, but also to other individuals impacted by job loss or income drop.

“It is also our major hope that both the local and federal governments work diligently to provide assistance to individuals in our community. There are multiple programs that we are all still awaiting,” he said

“This Commonwealth was one of the first and the most severely impacted by this virus. We are now going on more than three months since negative impacts reached our shores yet to date individuals in our community have received zero direct assistance from our local and federal governments,” Hunter added.

Hunter admits that many small businesses are struggling daily to stay afloat. “But we are a resilient community and have been through so much. We need to go back to our native mindset—one of a community made up of individuals that help one another. No one person can solve all the issues and if we all do a little bit we can do so much,” he said.

“We saw this time and time again after numerous disasters here in our Commonwealth. I would hope that our government leaders put aside all their internal squabbling and start focusing on solution-finding and come up with ways to ensure that not only the teachers get what they deserve but every individual living in the Commonwealth. We need to turn away from self-enrichment and a top-heavy system and start moving toward a government that provides a more level playing field for its citizens,” he added.

The Shack Saipan is open from Monday to Friday, 8am-2pm, and Saturday from 8am to 12noon. For more information, call (670) 286-7222 delivery is available through the Eats Easy app.