Sol Garcia | THE RIDER
RGV Free Fridge Project, a community project, is setting up their first refrigerator with free food near Archer Park in McAllen. By this week, the refrigerator should be placed and cleaned up, said Andrea Juarez, an organizer.
While the exact location cannot be disclosed yet, Andrรฉs Garza, lead organizer and anthropology graduate from UT Austin, said it would be near Archer Park, in an area where there is a need for free food.
โThereโs a lot of homeless people in the area, a lot of asylum seekers in downtown, and weโre just hoping that they would have access to it,โ he said.
People are free to take what they need or leave food in the refrigerator at any time, said Garza.
โYou either have the purpose of going to drop food off, or you have the purpose of taking some food, whatever is available,โ he said.
Some organizers are interested in setting a refrigerator up in Brownsville and in Weslaco. Brownsville organizers are in the process of securing a refrigerator, Garza said.
โThereโs been a lot of interest from other folks in โฆthe [Rio Grande] Valley that have reached out and want to make this project succeed in their respective city,โ he said.
All refrigerators are meant to give access to free food to all those who need it, from homeless people, people with low-income or others who are just in need, Garza said.
โWe definitely believe that free food is a human right, and our region suffers with a lot of food insecurity,โ he said.
The project began when Garza noticed other cities in the nation setting up refrigerators for the community. He was inspired to do the same for the RGV and tweeted about setting up the project.
โSome people were interested, and [the project] kind of just got momentum,โ he said.
One of those interested people was Juarez, a UTRGV psychology graduate. She had previously considered starting the project but thought it would be impossible.
โOnce I saw that there was also someone else interested in doing it, I kind of amplified that message to my followers,โ she said.
Now Juarez is helping organize the event by working on the projectโs social media and creating flyers and graphics.
โIโm prioritizing spreading the word, just so we can get more resources, but also let people know in the community that this will be a resource open to them if they want it,โ she said.
In total, there are about five organizing members in the RGV Free Fridge Project, all volunteers. About 15 other people offer specific services, such as donations. The refrigerators and food are all donations from the community, Garza said.
โItโs purely community-run,โ he said.
รngela Garcรญa, an art history senior at Trinity University in San Antonio, volunteered to paint the first refrigerator. She, with the help of her parents, made a โ60s themed collage on it. She tore pieces of construction paper individually for her design and then sealed the collage with a protective coat, taking about a week.
โThe fridge is mostly โ60s inspired by stuff like โฆ hippie art,โ she said.
She also โtook influence from the movie โYellow Submarineโ that was released in 1968.โ
Garcรญa wanted to ensure the fridge looked welcoming and approachable.
โI wanted people to feel like they can come up to it,โ she said. โI wanted it to be enjoyed by everyone.โ
The project wants to emphasize this service is not a charity, but about the community taking care of each other, Juarez said.
โItโs very important in communities that are low income like ours, to make sure that we have each otherโs back if weโre able, because itโs clear that โฆ if we donโt, nobody else will,โ she said.
With this project, food does not go to waste. When people have an excess of food at home, many of them tend to throw it out, so now they can donate it, Garza said.
โThere is a lot of food waste, not just in the Valley, but in the nation,โ he said.
The only food donations that are unwanted are raw meat or raw fish, Garza said.
โThat is something that we are not going to be wanting in the fridge, just because of sanitary hazards and also because they can spoil quickly,โ he said.
About five businesses, like coffee shops and bakeries, have reached out to the project, but the project wants to wait to set up partnerships, Garza said.
โWeโre still, kind of, just waiting to see how it all unfolds once the fridge is up and running,โ he said.
Additionally, RGV Free Fridge Project is trying to set up small pantries to hold everyday essentials and canned goods. It will be taking financial donations in the near future to cover the costs of electricity, cleaning supplies and sanitizing supplies, โso we can keep the fridge running, and during this pandemic, in a safer way as we can,โ Garza said.
People interested in helping the project, whether by donating or organizing, can email rgvfreefridge@gmail.com or send a message to their Instagram page @rgvfreefridge.
