Buffalo Community Fridge
We are a grassroots, 100% volunteer-led mutual aid network of community fridges dedicated to giving Buffalo communities access to fresh and healthy food.
Our mission is to build stronger community bonds, eliminate food waste, and address food insecurity in Buffalo, New York.
Our fridges are located at 286 East Ferry, 45 Jewett Avenue, and 167 Herkimer Street. Take what you need, leave what you don’t.
Buffalo Community Fridge was inspired by the work of In Our Hearts, an action-oriented mutual aid group in New York City. A community fridge is a 24/7 anonymous food resource. Community fridges across the United States are fighting food insecurity, reducing waste, and uniting neighbors and communities.
As IOH describes it, “Community fridges are run by their neighbors and communities, and each one has its own unique rules and needs. Each fridge is not run by charity, but by community connection and empowerment.”
What Is Mutual Aid?
“In mutual aid systems, people work cooperatively to meet the needs of everyone in the community. It’s different from charity, which features a one-way relationship between an organization and recipients, and often responds to the effects of inequality, but not its causes.
"Mutual aid is an act of solidarity that builds sustained networks between neighbors. As prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba explained to the New Yorker: ‘It’s not community service—you’re not doing service for service’s sake. You’re trying to address real material needs.’
Mutual aid groups are made up of organizers and volunteers who respond to the needs of communities. How they achieve this logistically differs from group to group. Mutual aid systems operate under the notion that everyone has something to contribute, and everyone has something they need. (Credit: Amanda Arnold)”
- Source: In Our Hearts