Black Mothers in Power launches community fridge to tackle Wilmington food insecurity

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Since 2019, the group Black Mothers in Power has been working to uplift Black women in Wilmington, offering services that range from maternal health support to advocacy and education.

Over time, the organization expanded to offer services like a computer lab, postpartum support groups, housing and transportation. As it continued to support families, the group identified another pressing issue: food insecurity. Its latest effort is a community fridge, a place where residents facing food insecurity can access free, fresh food.

“We have a lot of families who come to us for assistance, right? A lot of their barriers for [things] like health care are related to things that don’t have anything to do with health care, like transportation, housing, access to food and different things like that,” said Shané Darby, founder and executive director of Black Mothers In Power. “Families were coming to us like, ‘We’re hungry.’”

Advocating for health care equity has always been at the forefront of Darby’s mission. She is also a member of Wilmington City Council, representing District 2 on the north side of Wilmington. As a mother of three daughters, she said her personal experience has heightened her awareness of the specific challenges faced by Black and brown mothers.

“We established the organization because there were disparity rates for Black women when it came to maternal care,” Darby said. “Black women and Black babies are two to three times more likely to die or have negative health outcomes. That’s why we came into existence, we started doing doula training programs, focusing on opening up a birth center [and training] midwives.”

She added, “It’s all intersected and connected, so that’s why we ended up doing the community fridge, realizing that [there] was a need in the community.”

Although a community fridge wasn’t part of the initial vision, the growing demand for food highlighted its necessity. For the organization, addressing this immediate need seemed crucial before tackling other issues faced by families.

“I never thought of opening up a community fridge. I never thought about the food pantry aspect until we opened up our center. And when we opened up our center, we realized people were coming to us asking us for food,” Darby said.

As the community fridge is designed to support Black and brown women, the organization decided to add a unique twist to the initiative.

“We’re partnering with local organizations to have pads and tampons available for free on the shelves of the community fridge, because we also know that’s another barrier to care.”

The community fridge, located at 2215B N. Washington St. in Wilmington, offers 24-hour access to canned goods and fresh produce. With the initiative launching this weekend, BMIP is now looking for other partnerships to source fresh produce from local gardens, secure donations from other organizations or encourage community members to drop off food.