In the summer of 2022, organizer Jackie Wilda committed to bringing the first community fridge to the NNN. She worked with Kathy Schuth of the NNN Community Center to find a location and began brainstorming with her neighbors about how to make it happen.
In the fall of 2022, Wilda teamed up with Tara Smithson, and Feed a Friend, South Bend was born. They received a grant from the local Awesome Foundation to cover the costs of electrical work and the construction of a shelter. Our story is just beginning, and we hope that you'll part of it!
The community fridge complements services provided by local food pantries and shelters by offering items not always easily found in these spaces, such as fresh produce, culturally-appropriate goods, and home-cooked, ready-to-eat meals.
It's accessible to all of us at all times: there are no particular hours when food can be contributed or claimed. Feed a Friend, South Bend has no creed or affiliation, no requirements for participation, and no application process. For those living in its vicinity, it requires no transportation.
Our goal is to build community through the sharing of food, the prevention of food waste, and the alleviation of food insecurity. Food insecurity can be periodic or perpetual. Sometimes it looks like students scraping by on ramen. Other times it looks like gig workers with unpredictable incomes. It can impact the unhoused or unemployed. It can also impact people with full-time jobs who still struggle at the end of the month. Food insecurity looks like families who can afford the shelf-stable stuff, but not the fruits and veggies that keep them healthy. It looks like people we know.
The community fridge also supports individuals who have difficulty accessing benefits provided by government safety-net programs (SNAP, WIC) because the paperwork acts as a barrier or the occasional nature of their food insecurity disqualifies them for more official forms of assistance.