Community Food Room

About the SMU Community Food Room

The SMU Community Food Room is the on-campus food bank for the Saint Mary’s University community. Our goal is to offer access to safe, nutritious, and personally acceptable foods in a welcoming environment. In collaboration with Feed Nova Scotia, we work to improve food security, food equity, and food literacy.

Book an appointment

The SMU Community Food Room is open year-round and is operating by appointment only.

• Users may book an appointment once per week (Monday - Friday).
• We open appointments every Monday at 11:30 a.m., and aim to open more appointments periodically throughout the week, so check back often.
• We only open appointments for a week at a time. If it says, "no available appointments", we are fully booked at that moment, but check back often as more appointments may become available throughout the week.
• If you cannot make your scheduled appointment time, please contact us as soon as possible, so that we can release that slot to someone else who is available. Check back often, as we may add appointments throughout the week based on volunteer availability.
• If you cannot find an available appointment time, please let us know by contacting food.room@smu.ca so we can make other arrangements.

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To ensure fair distribution and support for our student community, we have implemented the following guidelines for Thursday appointments. A valid and current SMU Student Number is required, and these appointments are exclusively for current SMU students. Students must pick up their appointments personally, and any other appointments will be canceled to make slots available for eligible SMU students. 

SMU Community Food Room users may register once a week, we open appointments each Monday. Students from other universities, colleges, or trade schools need to present a valid student ID and may register only if they are from recognized local institutions. Each visit requires a separate appointment with a current Student ID. 

We appreciate your understanding that the SMU Community Food Room is primarily for Saint Mary’s University students. Due to high demand, we have had to implement these guidelines to ensure we can continue to provide support effectively. Non-students are encouraged to explore other community options such as NS211 for assistance. Thank you for your cooperation. 

Do you have suggestions for the SMU Community Food Room? Submit the online feedback form with suggestions for food room items and ideas for events and programming!

The Community Food Room thanks supporters for their generous contributions. Your donations are helping to improve food security in the SMU Community and beyond. Questions about donations can be directed to food.room@smu.ca.

Food donations can be dropped off at SMUSA (501 Student Centre) or Student Affairs and Services (301 Student Centre) during business hours, which are typically Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Right now, our desired food donations include: cooking oil, frozen meat, rice, canned or dried legumes, and canned vegetables. 

We accept monetary donations, these can help us purchase perishable foods such as milk, eggs, meats.