The Roslindale Community Fridge hosted its first stand-alone free food pop-up on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Roslindale Substation.

According to Caroline Yang, leader of the group, Community Fridge began providing free food to Roslindale neighbors in need during the pandemic. They served thousands of people at an indoor location, with food bought through cash donations or by donations received directly from suppliers. Now, the organization is moving to a new model of holding one day, free food pop-ups on a quarterly basis with the focus on being part of a larger vision of supporting community health initiatives. “If we want to collaborate with the medical or dental clinics here who can do it. Whether we bring healthy food to those events or we do some education around health, I think there's a lot of opportunities to target this mission that goes beyond just physically giving out food.” During the time between the pop-ups, the Fridge collaborates with other organizations that are doing regularly scheduled food distributions. The flexibility of where and when a food pantry is open offers more choices to make food available at a time and place easily reached by anyone for a last-minute need or on a regular schedule.

On this day, there was already a line of about six people inside the door before the official opening at 2 p.m. Customers went down the various tables of produce that included potatoes, onions, oranges, carrots, bags of different kinds of bread, rice, peanut butter & jelly, energy drinks, cookies, and candies. Also available were cans of dog and cat food donated by Pet Supply Plus. Additional items were tucked in under the tables, so some customers were able to get two bags of food, if requested, with plenty available for others.

“A lot of the fresh produce you see today was purchased,” said Yang. “And we also purchase from organizations that support local farmers and other things.”

Any leftover bulk perishables are dropped off at other food pantries, and non-perishables are held for the next event. They also offer specialties. One example is having candy or bagged popcorn available, so a customer can still get plenty of basic food items and even pick up a treat for their children without having to manage a very limited budget that does not allow for any extras.

There are also no qualifiers to get food.

“We want to really maintain people's dignity and respect their privacy and really encourage them to come … this is really just our opportunity to connect and meet the community, to serve the community.”

Customers simply show up with their shopping bags (or bags are provided) and go to tables and choose what they want, and volunteers will help fill their bags based on their choices. The personalized service enables everyone to get a shot at all that’s available in an organized way. The pop-up remains open as long as there is food available and there are customers in line to get it.

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One of the volunteers, Kyra Diehl, was outside posting signs or directing customers inside. A native Vermonter, she volunteered to help in October and was almost immediately asked to help organize the new pop-up model.

“I've always kind of more been just, you know, I'm a volunteer, tell me what to do and I'll do it. So we, Caroline, myself, and then Emily, who's outside manning the door right now, just kind of hopped on a call and talked and figured why not do kind of just a little pop-up event, see how it goes, and then go from there.”

She said she’s been interested in social justice for a long time.

“I was working with the Rosindale food pantry over at the church for a little bit … and then, this just kind of happened. I wanted to do something … what can I do for the actual community that I'm part of now? I've been in Roslindale for about three years. So, yeah, here we are.”

Diehl said she feels so many neighbors need help. “Things are really tough for a lot of people right now. It shouldn't even be a question that you have enough food, and you have nutritious food.”

For those who are interested in becoming a volunteer for the next pop-up, go to https://linktr.ee/roslindalecommunityfridge