News from Free99Fridge
Community Partners are organizations or individuals who are fighting for equity and social justice for all. Every quarter, East Fork introduces a new Community Partner and designates them as the recipient of donations made by our customers who are then granted access for the duration of the partnership to our Seconds page, which is where we sell our imperfect, discounted pottery. And we also hold raffles, one of which, if you are reading this before March 21th at 12:00pm EDT, you can enter. The winner gets a dozen pieces of East Fork pottery in the glaze of their choice from our glaze library.
Our current Community Partner is Atlanta’s Free99Fridge, a grassroots organization that fights for food justice and addresses the needs of its neighbors through mutual aid. Free99Fridge uses a network of community fridges to offer high-quality produce and non-perishable food at no cost to anyone who wants or needs it.
In addition to keeping the fridges stocked, Free99Fridge has a new weekly event where people can pick up groceries at no cost or volunteer at the site.
Here’s founder Latisha Springer to catch us up:
A Grocery Store
We’ve teamed up with The Grocery Spot to open a mutual aid grocery store! People will be able to access free (or pay what you can) produce, non-perishables, breads and more. You can text FOODJUSTICE to 44321 to help support this effort!
Saturday Grocery Pop-Ups
Our weekly Grocery Shop Pop-Up has been a big win for the community this year. The first Saturday of the year, I started hosting this open-air grocery store to improve food access and build community. We set up in the parking lot of a recently opened, locally-owned grocery store in Bankhead to provide a free grocery shopping experience. Shoppers start lining up outside our gates at 9am in anticipation for our 12pm opening each Saturday. Recently we gave away 10,000+ POUNDS of food and it was the first time we didn’t run out of food super early.
Homes Coming Soon
We’re building two off-the-grid tiny houses for our unhoused friends. Abbreviated story: I was gifted two shed buildings, got a group of community volunteers to deconstruct them and move them to the backyards of folks willing to provide a safe space for our unhoused friends to live. (Yep, all thru IG.) We’re working to complete construction of both houses before summer. As is the case with everything F99F, this project is being funded and executed all by the community—no government or corporate backing. I have access to more tiny houses for our unhoused neighbors, but need to get these two done first.
New Wheels
My new van has been a game-changer! It’s an old, 2006 Ford Econoline E350 XL. It’s loud, rusty, and leaky, but I love it! It’s a major upgrade from hauling in my Honda Civic and makes this fridge life so much more efficient.
The Challenges Ahead
Our primary pain points/challenges remain the same—not having enough food consistently in the fridges and not having enough community involvement (boots on the ground, not likes + follows).
For more on Free99Fridge, read our interview.
