Software Engineering II Project Contributions by: Timothy Nguyen & Vance Nguyen

SJSU Food Pantry Prototype

Overview This project is a prototype web application designed to modernize and improve the efficiency of the San José State University (SJSU) Food Pantry. The current pantry system operates entirely in person with no online presence. This prototype demonstrates how technology can enhance food distribution, inventory tracking, and user access.

Goals

• Provide an online platform for students to view pantry inventory and make checkout requests.

• Simplify administrative tasks such as inventory management and visit tracking.

• Offer a structured way to quantify the pantry’s impact on the student population.

• Recreate official pantry policies and workflows in a digital format.

• Improve accessibility and reduce manual overhead in pantry operations.

Features

• Utilizes open authentication protocol with Google Login to provide security and authentication to user identities

• User roles: Admin, Staff, Student, Donor, Guest

• Item categories: Perishable (Dairy vs others), Non-perishables, Toiletries

• Centralized recipe location including integration with OpenAI API for ChatGPT curated recipes

• Weekly visit limits and category-specific restrictions

• Inventory and order database updates on checkout

• MVC architecture with the MERN(MongoDB, Express, React, NodeJS) stack

Disclaimer This project is not affiliated with the official SJSU Food Pantry in any way. It is an academic prototype created for educational purposes only. Official pantry recipes and publicly available policies were referenced to ensure the prototype closely reflects the real-world process.