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Community fridge open in Riverside neighborhood

Residents of northeast Wilmington struggling with food insecurity now have another option for free, healthy food. 

  

Advocates say the community fridge that opened this month outside the Kingswood Community Center in Riverside is the first in the state. 

It works like other community fridges popping up in cities across the country. Residents or organizations that have food to spare stock the fridge, and neighbors who need the food pick it up for free anytime. 

The fridge and pantry shelves outside of Kingswood were sponsored by the local nonprofit Planting to Feed. The organization stocks the fridge once a week with produce from its two gardens and through partnerships with corporations and other local organizations. 

“We’re really focused on quality foods,” said Planting to Feed Founder Jessica Wescott. “So you’ll be seeing a lot of fresh vegetables, a lot of fresh fruits, if there’s a request of some sort, I would love to know what that is, and we can start getting it growing for next season or ask one of our partners to help provide that.”

Julie Bieber, director of operations for Kingswood Community Center, says there are few options within the neighborhood for food assistance—other than the pantry Kingswood runs, and occasional Food Bank events. 

“Fresh food, there’s really nothing,” Bieber said. 

Planting to Feed sees the Riverside fridge as a pilot, and hopes to eventually start others throughout the city.

 

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
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