Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/tag/watertown-community-fridge/)
Watertown Community FridgeThe Watertown Community Fridge provides free food and meals to those who need it. It will move to a new location behind the Watertown Free Public Library on Nov. 10, 2025. The Watertown Community Fridge, which offers free food 24/7, will be moving to a new location. See details provided by the Community Fridge, below.
With a freeze on SNAP benefits set to start Nov. 1, 2025, food drives for local food pantries are being planned. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Starting Nov. 1, 2025, nearly 2,500 Watertown residents who receive federal food assistance funds will likely lose hundreds of dollars in SNAP benefits. Food pantries, non-profits and other groups in the City are gearing up to try to fill the gap.
Third-grader Naomi Ward stands next to the fridge where food is saved after lunches at Lowell School and donated to the Watertown Community Fridge. She helped raise money to purchased the fridge. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Thanks to the effort of an elementary school student, bags full of food from lunches at one Watertown school will be saved and made available to those who visit the Watertown Community Fridge. Setting up a program to collect the food and make it available to those who need it was a multi-year effort. Now third-grader Naomi Ward first got the idea of trying to save food from lunches at Lowell Elementary School when she was in first grade.
The honorees at the Watertown Community Foundation’s Celebrate Impact Event. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Hunger is an issue faced by a growing number of Watertown residents. Recently, the Watertown Community Foundation put a spotlight on the work of several groups that have been trying to make sure everyone in town can feed their families and themselves. On Oct. 17, the Community Foundation hosted Celebrate Impact where they honored the people and groups who make up four pillars to feeding those in need in Watertown: food support, 24/7 access, food assistance, and food distribution.
The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Community Event:
On Thursday, October 17, the Watertown Community Foundation will host their annual fundraiser, Celebrate Impact, highlighting the continued urgency of food insecurity in our community and honoring the people behind Watertown’s core food security programs.
Honorees include the Steering Committee of the Watertown Community Fridge, Stephanie Venizelos of the Watertown Farmers’ Market; Kathy Cunningham and Carol Pennington, who each run one of Watertown’s food pantries; Olivia Fields, Kristen Monti, and Sarah Woods of the Watertown Housing Authority; and JD Donohue, owner of Donohue’s Bar and Grill. “Approximately 7,800 Watertown residents, or nearly 1 in 5 of our neighbors, need support to feed their families,” said Jen Nicholson, Watertown Community Foundation Board Member and Event Co-Chair. “Our honorees work and volunteer to put food directly into the hands of people who need it.”
“The Watertown Community Foundation works to connect Watertown residents to reliable sources of healthy food by supporting those local organizations whose mission makes this happen,” said Lauren Coughlin Unsworth, Watertown Community Foundation Board Co- President and Event Co-Chair. “We are delighted to celebrate the impact of our honorees and their organizations in making food available to people who need it.”
“When money can’t cover rent, medical care and food: hunger happens. The COVID pandemic highlighted the ongoing presence and urgency of hunger in the Watertown community.
Volunteer Sue Twombly stocks the Watertown Community Fridge with items they picked up at the Cambridge Community Center. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Each Friday, Will and Sue Twombly drive to Cambridge and fill up their car with vegetables, fruit, bread, and other items and bring them back to Watertown. The food is bound for one of the newest resources for people struggling to afford to eat: the Watertown Community Fridge. The Fridge is a free resource, located outside the United Methodist Church at 80 Mt. Auburn St., that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Jan Singer, left, the former Executive Director of the Watertown Community Foundation, discussed how the Foundation responded to food insecurity during the Pandemic with journalists Maya Shwayder and Charlie Breitrose. (Photo by Dan Hogan / WCA-TV)
As the numbers of people facing a scarcity of food, worried about losing their home, or paying for utilities rose at the start of the Pandemic, a group of people in Watertown was gathered to bring together their knowledge of how to serve those in need. The task force continues to meet regularly, and tries to figure out ways to fill the gaps and patch the cracks in the local, state, and federal social services programs.
This story is the third in a series by Watertown News, in conjunction with Watertown Cable Access Television, called “Watertown’s Hidden Problem: Food Insecurity Among Us.” (See part one here). The Task Force
Jan Singer, who was executive director of the Watertown Community Foundation when COVID-19 hit, said the Community Resilience Task Force came about when the Foundation got a grant from the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund aimed at providing assistance in key areas such as housing, childcare, and food security. Singer and members of the Foundation board quickly realized that they needed to gather the experts to help them direct the funds where they were needed most.
Food on the shelfs at the Watertown Food Pantry, which has seen an increase in the number of people using its services since the start of the Pandemic. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
For many, Watertown is a destination for food and eating, with dozens of restaurants, markets small and large, and a farmers market through the warmer months. However, a significant number of residents have trouble affording to feed themselves and their families. The hunger problem in Watertown is often not visible, but those who provide assistance and services to people in need have noticed a recent increase in the number of people in town facing food insecurity, spiking during the Pandemic. And, while the COVID cases have dropped, the numbers of people going to Watertown’s two food pantries, or needing help to put enough food on their table has remained at about the same level.