Filling a Need

August 25, 2022

Katharine Gammon for TIME, adapted by TFK editors

COMMUNITY HUB A volunteer helps out at a community refrigerator in New York City. EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ—AP

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, refrigerators began popping up in unlikely places outdoors. Volunteers plugged them in on street corners in cities around the country. Anyone could take food—for free.

The fridges were set up to address food insecurity food insecurity ARIEL SKELLEY—GETTY IMAGES unreliable access to food (noun) More people have experienced food insecurity since the cost of groceries went up. . Many people lost their jobs during the pandemic. They couldn’t afford to buy food. The problem continues as food prices rise.

Tajahnaé Stocker started the ICT Community Fridge Project. It’s in Wichita, Kansas. Stocker raised $1,500 and bought a fridge. She decorated it and stocked it with food. It was a step toward solving the hunger crisis. “[Charity] alone cannot solve every problem,” she says. The fridge is “just trying to fill in the gap of a grocery store.”

Stocking Up

STOPPING BY A man visits an artist-decorated community fridge outside a café in Denver, Colorado.

HYOUNG CHANG—THE DENVER POST/AP

Food insecurity is a problem all across the United States. During 2020, about 10% of families didn’t always have enough food. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Volunteers have stocked hundreds of fridges around the country. Kristin Guerin runs a community-fridge group in Miami, Florida. It’s called Buddy System MIA. It fills its fridges as many as five times a day. “The need is still really high,” Guerin says.

Community fridges often contain food from restaurants and supermarkets. The group 901 Community Fridges operates in Memphis, Tennessee. It stocks fridges with leftover meals from other food-assistance groups. That way, meals don’t go to waste.

Food, and More

FRIENDLY FACE Organizer Sherina Jones sets up a community refrigerator in Miami, Florida.

LYNNE SLADKY—AP

The movement has begun to expand beyond food. Diapers and other baby items are accepted by 901 Community Fridges. The group plans to provide other services. These might include laundry and help for recent immigrants.

The fridges in Miami are papered with flyers advertising summer camp and other programs. “The fridges have become small community centers,” Guerin says. “They have become a staple staple LJUBAPHOTO—GETTY IMAGES something that people need (noun) We went to the grocery store to buy staples like bread and milk. , and they will be for a while.”