Real Community Love: Chicago Collective Place Neighborhood ‘Love Fridges’ In Bridgeport And Little Village For Neighbors In Need

The Love Fridge Embodies Real Community Love Through Mutual Aid

As of December 2020, there are 22 love fridges all over Chicago — including this one in the Pilsen neighborhood. Belmont Cragin added one this week. | Photo:Linda Lutton | WBEZ

On July 26, 2020 a refrigerator appeared in Chicago’s Little Village … surrounded by shelving sheltered under a roof. Not even a week later Marz Brewery in Bridgeport announced their own multi-colored painted refrigerator, operating and ready to be stocked.

Little Village, Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and Back of the Yards residents have encountered what is being known as “love fridges.”

These rapidly multiplying refrigerators are the project of Chicago collective The Love Fridge, an organization focused on combating food scarcity and waste by providing nourishment to neighborhoods and communities.

Inspired by similar projects in cities like Los Angeles and New York, The Love Fridge provides neighborhoods with “community fridges.” Residents can freely receive and donate food to keep their communities well-fed at any hour of the day, any day of the week. The fridges are decorated and adorned by local artists to accurately represent the communities they serve, making each fridge as diverse and unique as the communities they call home.

Comida Gratis | Photo: Ash Godfrey

For the people from the Love Fridge Chicago, Chicago communities seemed to be dealing with food insecurity at an all-time high rate. According to Feeding America, more than 54 million people may have suffered food insecurity this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the economic downturn of coronavirus, many individuals in Chicago neighborhoods have suffered from a lack of access to food.

The main communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic have mostly been in Black and Latino neighborhoods which is where most of the communal fridges have currently been placed. There are 18 total fridges around Chicago only.

This is why they focus a lot of their efforts on the South and West sides, said Ash Godfrey, one of the core organizers. The first-ever Love Fridge was actually set up in Little Village in July 2020, where today, its residents are: 84% Latino, 77% Mexican/Mexican American, 12% African American and 39% foreign-born.

“Little Village has been the most amazing and supportive community … we really wouldn’t be where we are without their support,” said Godfrey.

When it comes to the communities’ responses to the Love Fridges, there have been some shocking responses by a few residents. However, Godfrey mentioned they mainly come from the older generation.

A new love fridge in Pilsen is “solidarity, not charity,” says one of the activists who helped bring the effort to the neighborhood. The community fridge offers free food for those who need it and a way to donate food for those who can. | Linda Lutton | WBEZ

“I think the people who are the most shocked by this are older people,” she said. “Especially people within the communities kind of seeing like ‘oh people care’ and people are willing to put their ass on the line to help other people.”

Unlike other community projects, they have had a lack of vandalism and even a lack of neighborhood complaints. Because of these optimistic responses and engagement, the communal fridges have been able to move forward and help many other neighborhoods during the pandemic.

“People seeing these fridges is eye-opening and the fact that I don’t think a lot of people realize. That people still struggle to eat and feed themselves. [The Love Fridges are] a reminder that that’s a reality,” Godfrey said.

Having fridges with free food allows each community to become familiar with the mutual aid concept and hopefully carry it with them everywhere they go. What better way to do that than through food? Just like Norwood and Von Haynes said:

“Food is love.”

Every day, The Love Fridge is accepting donations of refrigerators to keep expanding the project’s reach.

For more information on The Love Fridge you can visit their Website and Instagram