UNB Saint John’s Student Representative Council is launching its Smart Bag Program for the second year, continuing efforts to fight food insecurity for students on campus.

Food insecurity is a serious and unfortunately common issue faced by university students, including those here on campus. Limited access to food is detrimental to students’ abilities to focus and perform to the best of their abilities in their studies. Recognizing the significance of this issue, UNB Saint John’s Student Representative Council launched their Smart Bag Program last year as a response to the issue of food insecurity on campus, making this service, along with the Resource Center, completely free of charge to students.

You can read our article on the program’s launch here!

Last year, the Smart Bag Program was greatly utilized by students, averaging 42 registrations per handout day, and the numbers this year are already proving to be just as substantial.

A 4th-year Business Student expressed how the program made a difference to them.

“The smart bags program helped me feel more comfortable addressing a need in my life. I am glad it exists to support students like me who would likely miss meals otherwise.” 

What is the Smart Bag Program? 

The Smart Bag Program focuses on giving handouts of food items on a biweekly basis to any students in need. These handouts include a variety of food items such as yogurt, apples, canned soups, packaged noodles, cereal, oatmeal, snacks, and more. Students with any allergies or dietary restrictions can contact the SRC to identify their needs.

How and when can I register? 

Registration will stretch for weekly periods, from Tuesday to Tuesday, and close at 1 p.m., giving the SRC a week to prepare the bags for the upcoming handout day. To register, students can use the link found in the UNB Saint John SRC’s Instagram bio (@unb_src), and in the linked form, they can specify their dietary restrictions. You can find the link to the form here.

Calendar and pickup days

Students can pick up their bags from the SRC office, Room 205 Thomas J. Condon Student Center from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. That same Tuesday, registration reopens for students to register for the next handout.