When Evanston resident Diana Morrow shops at the grocery store, she’s not just feeding her own family. She also purchases food to donate to Evanston Community Fridges, a mutual aid network founded in 2021 that maintains four refrigerators throughout the city to feed those in need.

Each fridge is hosted by a different Evanston organization, including Reba Place Church. While the original founders of Evanston Community Fridges have taken a step back, community members like Morrow have stepped up to manage the fridges and keep them stocked.

“I think food is a basic need that everybody in our community needs to have,” Morrow said. “Thinking about hungry kids and hungry families, I think that’s a really important need to fill.”

At first, Morrow only donated occasionally when she had extra groceries. Then, she started spending extra money to put four or five items in the fridge. 

She soon realized that every time she went to the fridge, it was empty. 

“I felt like it wasn’t going to be enough. Could I help out more?” Morrow said. 

She later discovered Evanston Community Fridges will reimburse shoppers who purchase groceries for the fridges using community donations. Morrow started using the reimbursement program to pick up more donations for the fridges during her weekly grocery shopping for her own family. 

Two weeks ago, Morrow saw someone pick up the bananas and clementines she had just donated, look back at their family member and smile in excitement. 

“All it really takes is my time,” Morrow said. “It still doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough. The fridges are still empty when I arrive most times, but it’s definitely a big help.”

The Ridgeville Park District organizes several gardening programs that donate fresh produce to the fridges. According to garden program and education coordinator Laura Downey, program participants typically start harvesting mid-May and are able to fill a fridge once a week. 

Starting in June, they can fill at least one fridge three to four times a week, and they usually donate the most in late summer.

“The fridges usually empty within an hour of us harvesting and putting (the food) in,” Downey said. 

Downey is also usually in charge of bringing the donations from the gardens to the fridges.

When she arrives at the fridge, she said, there are typically people waiting and she is grateful people are excited about the fresh produce she’s offering. 

Still, she finds seeing her neighbors and fellow community members waiting outside an empty fridge “heartbreaking.” 

“It’s really lovely to talk to people,” Downey said. “Sometimes they’re telling their stories, but most of the time, it’s more pragmatic things like ‘Oh I’m so glad you’re here, I had to bike all the way from the north side to get over here.’”

Each fridge has managers who oversee its maintenance. Deanna Lesht, co-manager of the fridge hosted by the Childcare Network of Evanston, said she restocks the fridge on Sundays, cleans it and checks on it a few times a week. 

Lesht said the part she finds most satisfying is seeing the “community in action.” People who are unable to contribute donations have helped her unload her car and clean the fridge, she said. 

“When the fridges are working best, everyone is doing what they can. And that doesn’t mean it’s identical for every person,” Lesht said. 

Wilmette resident Cindy Fey makes frequent donations of a different kind. Three times a week, she picks up leftover pastries from EvaDean’s Bakery and Cafe and takes them home to repackage into individual Ziploc bags. Then, she brings them to the fridge closest to her, which is hosted by Soul & Smoke.

Fey said when she brings the donations, she will get hugs and “thank you’s” from people waiting outside the fridges — and she loves these interactions.

“One time I was dropping off and some guy in a delivery truck pulled by, and he waved at me. He said thank you,” Fey said. “They’re no different than I am — everybody gets hungry.”

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