So you want to join a community fridge, but you don’t know where to start. You’ve come to the right place.
A volunteer helps distribute food. Photo by Emma Kazaryan.
Find a refrigerator
You can search for refrigerators in your neighborhood using databases like this one from Free. You might be lucky enough to find one near you or a fridge to visit on your next vacation. You can also search for community fridges in your area on platforms like Instagramwhere many groups are still active. And some groups, as in New Yorkalso share maps of their specific city.
Once you’ve found a fridge you’d like to volunteer at, the best thing to do, organizers say, is just show up. “Meet other volunteers or people who use it, and chat to them about what they need and what they’re looking for,” says Victoria Jayne, with South Philadelphia Community Fridge.
Think about what you can offer. Do you have a car? You can help deliver food. Maybe you don’t drive, but you have an hour or two of free time each week. One of the most needed jobs is cleaning and maintaining the refrigerator. Bring a sponge and paper towels and help clean for a few minutes.
If you don’t have time to volunteer regularly, you can still help out with the most important part of a community fridge—food. If you’re grocery shopping, pick up a few extra items to fill the shelves. Do you regularly have work meetings with tons of leftovers? Take them to the fridge. The film and television industry, for example, is notorious for having extra food on hand every day. Can you connect the hosts with a restaurant or grocery store that might be interested in regular food donations?
Photo by Emma Kazaryan.
What should you bring?
There are a few things to keep in mind when stocking a free fridge. First, label everything, even if it’s just with a little tape or a marker. “You’re doing a great job,” Julie Haire tells Los Angeles Community Fridge. “We love the sentiment, but you should also realize [the food] “It’s going to be thrown out if it’s not labeled.” Even if you know what a food item is by looking at it, not everyone will, and they won’t know when it was made or when it expires. It’s also important to think about how people might eat the food. If it’s in a box or needs to be heated, that might be fine for some of your neighbors. But homeless people don’t have access to cooking utensils. For that reason, Haire says “grab and go” foods are the best option.
Also, the refrigerator is not a place to store inedible food or expired ingredients. A good rule of thumb is to put yourself in the shoes of the person who is going to go to the refrigerator. Would you pick that item? If the answer is no, it is better to keep it for composting.
Start a refrigerator
But what if there are no community refrigerators in your area? You’re in luck. You’ll be the one to start one.
First, check to see if there are refrigerators in other cities in your state or province. They can help you get started. chapter in your cityand you can become a member of their group. Many mutual aid groups are happy to have people who align with their mission and can help spread the message further.
Packing donated food. Photo by Emma Kazaryan.
You can even become part of an established group like Freege through its financial sponsorship. If you want to become a non-profit organization protected under the law like Good Samaritan Food Donation ActBut if the process is too burdensome for a group your size, you might want to see if sponsorship might help. “You find an existing nonprofit and say, ‘Okay, now you’re part of my nonprofit,’ and all you have to do is report annually with financial statements,” says Ernst Bertone Oehninger, founder of Freege. As Oehninger has found, sponsorship is often a great way for smaller groups to get started while still working together under the same general organization.
Next, check out the resources. Many established fridge groups have Frequently Asked Questions available online to help you get started. Freege even shares Legal guidancehelps you find out everything you need to know about health and safety, as well as your responsibilities during your stay.
Choose a location
You’ll need a refrigerator, a way to plug in, and a server. For some, that’s in front of an apartment building; for others, a community center. Location is key, says Oehninger. “If you’re closer to downtown or have good food service nearby, it’ll make volunteering easier.” [when it comes to stocking the fridge]“But it’s harder to clean because there’s more stuff being moved around,” he says. Ultimately, though, your fridge needs to be accessible. Think about where it’s most visible from all angles and to people walking or driving by.
Organizers say they regularly find free refrigerators on Craigslist or Facebook, but they especially like models with glass doors so people can easily see inside.
A solar roof in Oakland, California. Photo submitted.
Curb appeal
Decorate it. A plain refrigerator is a sad refrigerator. Think about the appeal of your refrigerator. You may get more attention and more community engagement with an attractive looking refrigerator. For some groups, such as Los Angeles Community FridgeThis means decorating each fridge with a different design and making sure the fridge can hold community newsletters and announcements.
Next, it’s important to think about how the refrigerator might be exposed to the elements and what that might look like. You can find guidance from many groups on how to build a shelter in the refrigeratorThis is a relatively simple process but can help protect your refrigerator in the long run.
Building a team
Think of the fridge as a community resource that not only combats waste and hunger, but also brings a neighborhood together. Ask people to join you. There are many ways volunteers can help: picking up and delivering, organizing, cleaning, coordinating, finding new donation partners, social media
A community refrigerator in South Philadelphia. Photo submitted by Victoria Jayne.
Fill it up
Finally, but most importantly, it’s time to stock your fridge. Individual donations are always appreciated, but the best way to keep your fridge stocked is to enter into agreements with businesses that would otherwise throw away their food. In New York City, there’s a partnership with local Panera Bread locations that keeps your fridge stocked with baked goods and pastries. Other groups we spoke to have talked about striking agreements with local grocery stores or restaurants or chains.
If you’re looking for advice on how to approach a business about partnerships, the team at Los Angeles Community Fridges has script sample you can use.
But, ultimately, no matter what you can do for a fridge, Jayne says getting involved at any level helps. “It’s really important to have a volunteer base where you have a really dedicated group of people, because keeping a fridge running is work and it takes a community.”
