Community fridges an oasis in Memphis food deserts
L.J. Abraham started 901 Community Fridges in 2021. Today, there are five outdoor fridges and an independent fridge covered by the group’s volunteers. (Jane Roberts/The Daily Memphian)
L.J. Abraham was thinking of the food deserts in Memphis when she posted on Facebook to ask friends if they would help her create a community refrigerator.
Four years later, 901 Community Fridges is exactly what it sounds like: an outdoor refrigerator open day or night, when feeding lines are closed or nothing’s open, to find home-cooked meals and perishables such as fruit or milk.
What Abraham didn’t expect was the level of community that would form around a solitary refrigerator left chugging away in the elements.
Topics
901 Community Fridges L.J. Abraham Hunter Demster Recover Food Feed Hope Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.
Jane Roberts
Longtime journalist Jane Roberts is a Minnesotan by birth and a Memphian by choice. She's lived and reported in the city more than two decades. She covers business news and features for The Daily Memphian.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.