I ran into one of my neighbors utilizing one of our Free Fridges & Community Pantries!

Had a chance to chit-chat with her while I was stocking the fridge with food rescue that I had just picked up. (A local gluten free bakery had some sandwich bread, scones, and cupcakes they hadn't sold and I delivered it to the fridge.)

As we were talking, the lady mentioned that she had recently lost her job and that she had also gone through a divorce. Both added up to her becoming homeless.

She said she could occasionally get into a local shelter, but that it wasn't guaranteed and the restrictions and time limits meant that she couldn't use it often. She said she would panhandle some and that would get her enough money for some food and sometimes a one-off night at an inexpensive hotel where she could get a hot shower.

She left a thank you note for the church that was hosting the fridge, for the fridge group that maintained it, and for folks that stocked and contributed to the fridge. Her note said (posting this without attribution but with permission):

"I'm homeless and panhandle across the street. I spend so much money on food and your foodbank has been a blessing. Thank you so much for your 24hr foodbank. It has helped more than you can imagine. May God bless you."

She rode a beater bicycle and mentioned that she had a spot tucked away where she set up a tent. She had gotten ahold of a camping stove and was able to take some of the fresh tomatoes that a local community farm donates to the fridge and made some tomato sauce out of it. That and some noodles made a solid meal.

She also mentioned that a local Wawa (a chain of convenience stores and gas stations) often had prepared sandwiches that they would throw away. They wanted to help but could only donate the food rescue to 501c3 groups - not directly to people.

I think it's full time my fridge group became an official 501c3. We can then start doing food rescue at that Wawa and elsewhere, and use that to stock the fridges.

Also as an aside... Someone donates a metric ton of bagels every Thursday. So much so it often crowds out the pantry, lol! Too much food is a good thing. So I've let the local Food Not Bombs and some other places that serve hot food know that we get regular donations of bagels and for them to come, grab them, and push them out.

Also also wik: We installed a shelter around this second fridge. It now holds two fridges/freezers and three pantries. And since it's sheltered from the elements, it'll hold temperature during the cold of winter and the heat of summer a lot better now. Really happy about that.

#solarPunk #freeFridge #foodSecurity #homeless