Doing Things Differently: Just Bring a Thing

Just Bring a Thing

Bubbly Dynamics has hosted a Love Fridge at The Plant for over five years, supporting food access for our neighbors in Back of the Yards. But given that the food businesses at The Plant are very good at avoiding waste and spoilage, how best to keep our fridge stocked?

Early on, we had the unfortunate realization that all we had in the fridge was celery, and a ton of celery at that, which prompted us to do a more targeted request to people coming to our public events. Now, we ask event organizers to extend a request to their audience of attendees: just bring a thing from your pantry to share with neighbors. We also share out the ask on our website along with other key information for visitors. The result has been a notable uptick in individual donations and a diverse variety of food offerings, especially after events. 

And we are grateful for the Port Ministries, a nearby service organization that regularly drops off sandwiches, and for the handful of community regulars who drop off pantry staples. Along with the Love Fridge mutual aid network, they help keep the shelves from going bare.

The Wasted Food Action Alliance recently wrote a case study about our strategy; find out more about WFAA and check out the summary here.

What Can You Do?
As you're doing that spring cleaning, don't forget your pantry! If you're not going to eat it, or if you have any surplus to share, check the network of Love Fridges for a location near you, and drop off at your convenience.