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The first RVA Community Fridge, painted by local artist Ayana Love, is located at 2025 Venable St. in Union Hill.
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(From left) RVA Community Fridge founder Taylor Scott and Pomona co-owner Frayser Micou
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Community fridges are stocked with produce, eggs, water, milk and more.
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23-year-old RVA Community Fridges founder Taylor Scott
At 2025 Venable St. in Union Hill, beside the cafe and shop Pomona, sits a brightly painted vessel decorated with an abstract design. Inside, it is fully stocked with fresh produce and cartons of eggs, the shelves lined with milk and bottles of water — on the front are two big words in all caps: “Free Food.” Accessible 24 hours a day, the donation-based community refrigerator that aims to combat food insecurity is the first of its kind in Richmond.
“We really want to provide fresh produce and fresh food and foster mutual aid,” says RVA Community Fridges founder Taylor Scott, who officially debuted the first fridge last weekend. “We’re a community, we’re a cohesive group of people.”
The 23-year-old originally moved to Richmond to attend VCU and study forensic science. Five years later, Scott calls the capital home and works in a local laboratory. When a friend in California launched a community fridge last year, Scott, looking for a way to deepen her relationship with the city, was inspired, drawn to the concept centered on mutual aid and providing assistance for the food insecure.
A New Orleans native, she says the first time she saw a community fridge was in high school, but that wasn’t the first time she had witnessed neighbors showing up for one another.
“I’ve grown up with people assisting us from [Hurricane] Katrina, people handing out little bags with toothpaste or a toothbrush — that was a big help, little things like that,” says Scott. “Even though I wasn’t born here, I feel so much like I’ve been in Richmond forever. It’s about having this reciprocation between resources and services and people and really being able to provide these assets to these people who may not be able to get [them].”
Scott says that when she began doing initial research on the concept, there wasn't a single registered community fridge in Virginia. On a whim, she decided to create an Instagram account called @rvacommunityfridges in late October. The response was overwhelming — farms reaching out to donate excess fruits and veggies, restaurants interested in offering places to plug in, students at universities across the commonwealth wanting to launch fridges of their own, and Richmonders interested in lending a hand.
Community fridges “are on the rise, and people are understanding that this is a need, and one we can help address,” Scott says.
First established in Germany and Spain in 2012 and later making their way to the United States, community fridges have become part of a national movement within the past year stemming from economic difficulties associated with the pandemic, greater scrutiny of social injustice and an increase in citizen-led grassroots efforts.
In cities from coast to coast — New York, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Denver and Los Angeles — colorfully painted fridges can be spotted, operating in communities embracing the idea of mutual aid.
In addition the fridge at Pomona, a second is set to debut at the Hull Street commercial kitchen space owned by Brian Graff of Intergalactic Tacos, The Bearded Kitchen — both refrigerators were donated.
RVA Community Fridges is a volunteer-run organization, still in its early stages, and Scott says friend Deena Ramadan has assisted in getting the project off the ground. The goal is to expand the initiative to other neighborhoods in the city, establish a pickup system, and, when it's safe to do so, host fundraisers and community events where local artists paint new fridges.
“I’d love to put up a fridge once per month if possible,” Scott says, noting that the biggest difficulty is finding access to electricity. “We’re trying to find the ... areas [with greatest need] and those with food deserts.”
A sheet of guidelines on the fridge lists acceptable donations — fruits and vegetables, bread, nonperishable items, fresh eggs, and dairy. Prohibited items include raw or frozen foods, alcohol, and unsealed or unlabeled food. In the near future, RVA Community Fridges hopes to build sheds that enclose the fridges and allow for the storage of dry foods, other pantry items and home goods.
”We had someone say they took a survey of their area, and they need school supplies and blankets and cleaning supplies,” Scott says. “We really want to be able to give back and assist the community in all areas.”
Currently, RVA Community Fridges is partnering with the nonprofit Virginia Free Farm, and Scott says The Pace Center at VCU, home to the Ram Pantry, recently reached out to inquire about adding a community fridge to the building.
Scott says this is just the beginning.
“We have the ability to do something and assist others — why not? We're all the same, we all need help, we’re all here for each other. I want to be out here making [sure] this food scarcity and insecurity shouldn’t be a thing.”
To donate or get involved, visit @rvacommunityfridges on Instagram or RVA Community Fridges' GoFundMe campaign.
