Colorful 'friendly fridges' with free food have been popping up on New York City streets to feed those who are struggling

• Artists and community activists have teamed up to fight food insecurity in New York by filling fridges with free healthy food.
• Community members interested in joining the "friendly fridge" movement acquire fridges and work with local businesses to get permission to plug them in. Volunteers come by a few times a day to clean and stock the fridges.
• The appliances began to pop up during the coronavirus pandemic, which has left thousands in the city food insecure.

Thousands of New Yorkers are out of work and struggling with food insecurity, but asking for help can be stigmatizing.

Knowing this, neighbors around the city are teaming up with businesses to stock "friendly fridges" with free food up for grabs, no questions asked.

"I've been in the situation of not having money to buy food. That's tough, but you don't want to ask for help," Laura Alvarez told Insider. "Having something for people to access without having to ask for it is so important. So many people have come by and take a few things or leave things."

Alvarez, an artist and co-founder of BxArts Factory, has painted three "friendly fridges" in the Bronx. Residents around the city — starting in Brooklyn — have begun buying and filling refrigerators that are placed on city streets for those in need.

Artists, like Alvarez, have been volunteering to paint them.

Last Sunday, while Alvarez spent a few hours decorating a fridge in the Bronx's Fieldston neighborhood, at least six people stopped by to pick up a few groceries. Even more people arrived in cars to drop off fresh produce and other food supplies, she said.

"There were a lot of older people. That also touches me because you don't know what they're going through," Alvarez said.

That fridge was organized by Selma Raven and Sara Allen, who got the idea at the end of May, after seeing a friend embark on a similar project in Harlem, they told Insider.

At the time the women didn't know that the movement was initially started by In Our Hearts NYC organizer Thadeaus Umpster, who bought a refrigerator to store food for a weekly food share program, but couldn't fit it in his Brooklyn apartment.

Instead, he placed it outside, filled it with food, and the project has spread on its own ever since through social media, Raven said.

Oftentimes, they are plugged into local bodegas or businesses with the owner's permission.

"We're seeing a lot of essential workers, home care workers. They just pick up one or two items and put it in their bag," Raven told Insider of their community fridge. "People don't have that budget right now."

The Bronx was particularly hard hit by the coronavirus and its related financial effects.

Allen and Raven are only at the fridge for a little under an hour each day to fill and sanitize it, but are often met with grateful visitors thrilled to pick up a few items they might otherwise not be able to afford.

"This morning we walked over there and there were five bottles of Sunny Delight," Raven said. "There was a mom that was so happy to see that Sunny Delight."

"She had kids at home," Allen added.

Another woman was thrilled to find chicken in the freezer because she hadn't been able to afford meat in a while, Raven said.

The New York Times reported that at least 14 community fridges have popped up across New York City since February.

Since starting theirs, Allen and Raven have been connected with the In Our Hearts group, which tracks the growing project.

In addition to helping neighbors in need, the fridges also reduce food waste because businesses drop off bread and other items they might not be able to sell at the end of the day.

In the US, about 30 percent of the food supply goes to waste, Allen told Insider.

While large restaurant chains are often barred from donating their leftover supplies because of liability issues, local bodegas and delis have been chipping in to supply the Bronx refrigerators with sandwiches and other meals, Raven said.

Many people also focus on donating fresh fruits and vegetables — some of which come directly from community gardens — because they can be especially out of reach for those who are financially struggling.

"Having access to fresh organic products is a luxury they wouldn't even think about," Alvarez said.

More than 1.2 million people living in New York City, or 14.4 percent, are food insecure, according to the Food Bank for New York City.

"We would love for the awareness of this project to grow so people get in the habit of dropping things off," Allen said. "That extra bag of groceries can really be someone's meal that night."

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