The former PubDownUnder space underneath Laurentian University's Great Hall has a new life as a free store and a food bank.
Following the on-campus pub’s closure in 2023, the free store, called Laurentian Re-U, opened in September 2024. The food bank opened in the same space in November 2025.
Laurentian previously had a food bank run by its student associations, but it is now operated directly by the university.
When Sudbury.com visited the facility this week, there was a steady stream of students picking up bags of groceries in a portion of the space sectioned off with a divider and poking around the adjoining free store, looking for treasures.
Mark Walma, Laurentian’s vice-president of student services, said when he first began working at the university 18 months ago, he was approached by a group who had an idea for a campus free store.
Laurentian’s facilities department identified the former PubDownUnder “as a really opportune, centrally located, good-sized space to create a free store,” said Walma.
“The food bank is a more recent addition, mostly because we had a food bank that was being run by one of the student associations, but they were struggling with it, and asked if there could be some steps taken to support a food bank in a different way.”
The Laurentian Re-U Free Store offers, as the name implies, clothing, toys, small household items, seasonal items, kitchenware and books at no cost. There’s no limit on clothing, but with other items, there’s a limit of five per day.
With the food bank, students are able to visit once per month during the free store’s opening hours, which is Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We knew there was a need, and so we're not as surprised by the level of demand,” said Walma, who added that while Laurentian does offer emergency bursaries, this is a low-barrier option. “We're just really gratified and grateful that we're able to meet that.”
He said if students are coming to class hungry, their academic performance will suffer. “I think it just creates the ability for students to focus on what they're really here for, which is an education,” Walma said.
The facility is supplied by the Sudbury Food Bank as well as donations from the Laurentian community, which held a recent food drive in which it filled a canoe.
It provides recipients with a bag of food that will last three or four days, with items including cereal, peanut butter, jam, pasta, rice, beans and meat.
Fresh foods are not provided at this point, but Sterlin Vaillancourt, peer programs co-ordinator with Laurentian, said there are future plans to bring in refrigerators and freezers so dairy, produce and meat can be offered.
“We have a great need right now,” said Vaillancourt, who adds that the food bank had served 280 students as of our visit this week.
“We're seeing a lot of graduate students, international students or students with families that are experiencing food insecurity just because the cost of living is really high right now. So that is the group that we're supporting the most.”
Free store co-ordinator Khorbin McComb said some cool items have come in, including cell phones, FitBits and high-end clothing. “We get Lulu, Reebok, Roots and Levi's,” he said.
A sewing machine and yarn were donated, which were put to use by crafty students. The free store also takes students’ old textbooks so their peers don’t have to shell out money for new ones.
“Every day there's usually someone who always leaves with something that they needed or something that they really wanted,” McComb said.
The services are partially powered by Laurentian students volunteering or doing placements. An example is Emma Carpenter, a third-year bachelor of social work student at LU, who recently started her placement at the free store and food bank.
Previously a volunteer, Carpenter said she was amazed at “the genuineness of the students that were coming in utilizing the program. They were so happy to have something like this, and they were always open to offering gratitude.”
Carpenter said she has had concerns from international students accessing the food bank about dietary restrictions.
“We let them know that if they have any restrictions or anything that they can't eat or they don't want to, we switch it out with something that they're interested in,” she said. “We let them decide what is good for them, and then they're always super happy with that.”
If you’d like to donate money or goods to either service, specific information on how to do so is available on both the websites for the free store and the food bank.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.