Over the summer, San Jose City College saw a number of changes and renovations to its’ campus.

Among those renovations is the brand new Jaguar Market, a marketplace located on the first floor of the Student Center next to the campus radio station.

Jaguar Market was put forth in an effort by SJCC’s administration to combat student hunger, according to EINNEWSDESK.

SJCC’s Office of Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness conducted a Fall 2018 survey that evaluated the student population’s access to affordable housing and food.

SJCC President Roland Montemayor said, “We were looking at the resources and insecurities that our students had. 52 percent of our students had an issue with food insecurity.”

The Jaguar Market offers groceries to students at no charge. Over 200 students received groceries from the Jaguar Market on the first day of school, according to the SJCC office of the president.

“We’ve always been trying to do things for students,” said Montemayor, “we build on things that have been done in the past, particularly by EOPS and METAS.”

President Montemayor also said that 35,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables were distributed to students in the farmers market sponsored by SparkPoint, which took place the second day of school.

The implementation of the Jaguar Market is a part of the ongoing efforts of the administration to accommodate the student body at SJCC.

“The Jaguar Market has been given a permanent place in the Student Center. We don’t know if it will be open during the winter and summer intercessions, but we imagine it will be,” said Montemayor.

Students are allotted one bag of groceries from the Jaguar Market per month to ensure that the services that the Jaguar Market provides is available to all students.

“It is really important to provide these services to the students and let the students know that we care about them,” said Montemayor at the conclusion of the interview.