Watertown Community Fridge

Providing Food Access 24/7 

For those who have not heard of it, the Watertown Community Fridge is exactly what it sounds like – a fridge and pantry stocked with food for the taking – just like you’d find in your home. Led by a group of volunteers, the fridge is open 24/7. It offers completely anonymous support for those who might not be able to get to a food pantry when it is open or may feel embarrassed about doing so. A true community resource, the fridge operates on the principle of “Take what you need, give what you can.” 

During the height of the pandemic, a group of caring residents realized that there needed to be a complementary resource to the City’s two food pantries. With the support of a seed grant from Watertown Community Foundation to help buy the fridge and build a shed, the Community Fridge launched in 2021. 

In a true community effort, a valiant group of volunteers formed a steering committee to pull together all the pieces needed to set this up. Originally located at the Francis Food Market, it is now in a more accessible location at the Belmont Watertown United Methodist Church, right outside the Watertown Food Pantry.  In order to set up shop, they needed a location with everything from electricity to trash to compost pick up. And then they needed to figure out how to keep the fridge filled.

The creativity shown in setting up the fridge is still evident in how it is stocked. Volunteers work with food rescue organizations, like Food for Free in Cambridge and Food Link in Arlington, to stock the fridge with food collected from local grocery stores and businesses. The Watertown community also helps keep the fridge stocked. One volunteer gets donations of bread and baked goods from Shaw’s daily. Other volunteers use donated money and gift cards to shop at supermarkets. When the Watertown Food Pantry or the Farmers’ Market or other programs have surplus food, they will donate it. Everyone in the community is invited to donate what they can when they can.

“I’ve noticed that there’s so much positive energy around what we’re doing here,” said Steven Duede of the Steering Committee. “The fact that it’s here, I think, makes people feel really good about the town they live in.” It has become a critical food resource to help people make ends meet.

The Watertown Community Foundation is proud to be a supporter of the Watertown Community Fridge: a community-led effort to meet an urgent community need at the grassroots level. While many volunteers have helped start and support the Watertown Community Fridge, we honor all of them by honoring the work of the current steering committee including: Jamie Burke, Cynthia Churchwell, Annmarie DeMeo, Steven Duede, Nancy Dutton, Ivy Maiorino, Christine Niccoli, and Will Twombly.  

The Watertown Community Fridge is located at 80 Mt Auburn Street (front of the Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church). Open 24/7.  Visit  watertowncommunityfridge.org to learn more, donate or volunteer.