Kingston Weekender
KINGSTON COMMUNITY FRIDGE PROJECT
by Mathew Taylor // kingstonweekender.com
The Kingston Weekender is all about highlighting the ways that our small city functions as a tightly-knit community. That of course means that it consists of neighbors who know each other’s names and residents who make a deliberate effort to support local businesses and artists—but it also signifies something beyond that. One of the most remarkable things about our community is the way that we can come together to help one another through difficult times.
The Kingston Community Fridge project is exemplary of the way our community members are able to rise to the occasion in difficult times to ensure that everybody’s most basic needs are met. As of September, there are two public, regularly-stocked fridges in Kingston whose operating ethos is “Take what you need, give you can.”
The fridges, located at Beyond the 4 Walls (14 Van Buren Street) and Clinton Ave Methodist Church (122 Clinton Avenue), are open from 7 AM to 9 PM daily and have been consistently full of food thanks to supportive and giving neighbors.
The project originated over the summer, when community organizations including the Kingston Food Co-op, Beyond the 4 Walls, Radio Kingston, O+, Rise Up Kingston, and Kingston Mutual Aid came together to talk about the nationwide community fridge trend they had been observing and to brainstorm ways that such a project could work in Kingston.
COVID was the impetus for the project, but it was far from the sole factor producing the food insecurity and related problems that the fridges aim to relieve. “The need was amplified during the pandemic, but it has been in existence since long before then,” notes Katy Kondrat, Director of the Kingston Food Co-op, which has taken on an administrative role as the project got underway. The pandemic became an obvious opportunity to address a perpetual problem.
Everybody who is intimately involved with organizing and operating the project emphasizes that at its core lies a commitment to mutual aid. Joy MacVane, pastor of the Clinton Ave Methodist Church and host of the fridge at that location, says “We don’t like to divide people into categories like ‘helper’ and ‘needy.’ At certain times in our lives we are all needy, and at other times we can all help.”
Essentially, this project is a testament to the community’s ability to come together and ensure that everybody’s material needs are met in an exceedingly difficult period. In addition to a September fundraiser that made the entire project possible to begin with, members of the community including individuals, restaurants, and other organizations have continued to drop food off to guarantee there is always something available.
In addition to the community organizations above and the local Kingston residents, some restaurants such as Pakt, Sissy’s Cafe, and Anchor as well as small local businesses like Edenesque artisinal nut milks, Seek North kombucha, and Boice Bros Milk have kept the fridges stocked with healthy and delicious food and drinks.
For many, it seems to be demonstrating the power of directly taking care of one another rather than waiting for other institutions or service providers. As MacVane says, “The project has captured many imaginations in a dark time.”
Because privacy is crucial for a project like this to function smoothly, there is no extensive record-keeping to document the number of people who use the fridges, but MacVane estimates that the fridge at her location receives a minimum of 30 visitors per day. And there is no need for hard data to demonstrate the obvious: these fridges have been an immensely valuable resource for many Kingston families.
HOW TO HELP
The holiday season is a difficult time for many even during a normal year, and all of that is only exacerbated by the many troubles and roadblocks of 2020. It is a great time to get in the habit of contributing to your community in a positive way, and contributing to the fridges is a wonderful way to do so.
One of the most appealing and accessible elements of this project is how easy it is to make a contribution. Anybody can just pick up a few extra items while out shopping and deliver them to one of the fridges on the way home.
Guidelines for acceptable donations are listed on the project’s website, and MacVane says that milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese, and butter are the items that generally go fastest and are the most in demand. If you have some leftovers after cooking, you can even drop those off so long as they are individually packaged with labels clearly identifying the ingredients and dates of preparation.
You can also follow them on Instagram at @kingstoncommunityfridges and check in at kingstoncommunityfridges.com for updates and other ways to help in the future.