Food for Good •Community fridges help fight food insecurity.

DONATION-BASED COMMUNITY REFRIGERATORS PROVIDE LIGHT IN FOOD-INSECURE NEIGHBORHOODS.

IN MANY COMMUNITIES, THE SIMPLE ACT OF OPENING THE REFRIGERATOR TO FIND FRESH, HEALTHY FOOD IS A LUXURY.

And in New York City, Selma Raven and Sara Allen were inspired to help when they noticed that some of their neighbors were going hungry during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the lead of innovators she’d noticed in Brooklyn, Sara found a refrigerator on Craigslist. Meanwhile, Selma asked nearby store owners for permission to plug it in out front; the plan was to fill it with free, fresh food for anyone who needed it. A few days later, she and Sara set up their “Friendly Fridge” in front of the Last Stop, a restaurant in the Bronx, just down the street from their apartment.

The Friendly Fridge operates under a simple system: Take what you need and leave what you can. Selma and Sara buy food almost every day to supplement donations. “It’s grown so much,” Selma says. “People take food and talk to us—the community has come together in ways that I’m just humbled by.”

The concept has grown beyond NYC. Similar programs have been introduced in cities across the country, such as Los Angeles, Houston and Miami. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, organizers Hataya Johnson and Sarah Tramonte were inspired by fridges in New York and launched the MKE Community Fridge in August. “We want to bring people together over food,” Sarah says. “It’s a basic human need that unifies us. We hope this project will inspire people from all over the city and from different backgrounds to come together for a common cause.” The MKE Community Fridge is stocked with fresh produce from farmers markets, local gardens and grocery stores. The produce stays in the fridge for about a day or two, and fresh food is added every day.

In New York, the Friendly Fridge program is also developing relationships with nonprofit food organizations. Selma and Sara visited a local food share and dropped notes into packets, asking recipients to donate any extra food to the fridge. Similarly, “when we have extra, we find another location that needs it,” Selma says.

“No one should go hungry,” she adds. “And thanks to this amazing neighborhood, we can all help.”