First community fridge in Northeast Philadelphia set to open

Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.

A new community fridge is set to open outside Memorial Presbyterian Church on Oxford Ave in Fox Chase, marking the first of its kind in Northeast Philadelphia. Part of a growing citywide network that sprang up during the height of the pandemic to address growing food insecurity, the fridge aims to ease food insecurity by offering free, around-the-clock access to fresh groceries.

Community fridges are refrigerators accessible — typically 24/7 — on the street or other public area that volunteers maintain and stock with food and supplies.

The soon-to-open fridge is an element of community care, said Liz Aubry, who volunteers with Northeast Community Fridge, the group behind the Fox Chase fridge. The group is currently fundraising and raising awareness.

“It’s really a village taking care of this thing,” she said.

The group began in earnest a few months ago when some core members from the neighborhood — veterans of the Germantown Fridge and other community groups — realized there were no community fridges in Northeast Philly.

“Doesn’t mean the need isn’t there,” Aubry said.

Other community organizations and churches like Memorial Presbyterian, which has operated a pantry since 2009, distribute food to the community, but some can have long waitlists or only do distributions on certain days, she said.

Pressure on the Food Distribution Network

The need may be rising again. The fridge opening comes as nearly 250,000 Philadelphians face food insecurity — meaning they don’t have enough to eat and might not know where their next meal is coming from.

Meanwhile, the federal government has cut over $1 billion nationwide from two programs that allow schools and food banks to buy food from local farms to feed their community. The cuts mean Pennsylvania will lose $13 million in food assistance funds statewide. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has said the state will appeal if the cuts are not reversed.

Additionally, the new tariffs set by the Trump administration, which many economists see as a tax hike for consumers, could raise grocery prices and even the availability of produce for donation, according to food distribution organizers. The Port of Philadelphia handled more than $3.5 billion worth of fruits and vegetables imported from other countries in 2024, according to the U.S. Census trade data.

The environment overall — tariffs, federal cuts, the end of a pandemic-era boost to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the federal food-assistance program, and proposed future SNAP cuts — is putting pressure on the community food distribution network, organizers say, which could trickle down to community fridges and other local groups.

“We’re being a little bit more cautious,” said Linda James-Rivera, co-founder and director of Northwest Mutual Aid Coalition. She said the organization distributes around 33,000 pounds of food every month, serving 10 local pantries and 13 community fridges.

Recently, her organization has received increased demand for food pantry services. She’s had to start a wait list, something she’s never had to do before.

“Everyone is now coming to us,” she said.

The group is set to increase the produce it sources from nonprofit Sharing Excess, James-Rivera said, and has already taken on two new groups from the pantry services waitlist. That said, she doesn’t want to over-promise to new groups, in case tariffs or new cuts further disrupt the food distribution networks.

Community Fridges are Mutual Aid

The city’s history of mutual aid — or neighbors helping neighbors — goes back to the year the U.S. ratified its Constitution. In 1787, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, two former slaves, founded the Free African Society to promote religion and literacy among Black Philadelphians and help fund burials of community members.

Today, the Northeast Community Fridge, like the dozens of sister groups around Philly, is built on the idea of mutual aid. It’s about the redistribution of resources, Aubry said, including food, funds and ride-shares.

The Fox Chase fridge crew tapped other groups for advice on the nitty gritty of running a community fridge, such as electrical wiring, where to source food and where to set the fridge on the street to reduce the hours of direct sunlight.

When starting up, Aubry of Northeast Community Fridge said the group also reached out to various partners in the community, including freshman state Rep. Sean Dougherty, whose district includes Fox Chase.

“Food insecurity is an invisible issue,” Dougherty said in a statement. “A community fridge is the last option when crisis strikes and food isn’t on the table. It puts food on that table.”

The representative’s office said it will look to find state grants to help fund the Fox Chase fridge.