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LETTER: The Watertown Community Fridge Needs Your Help

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The Watertown Community Fridge is an outdoor refrigerator and small food pantry located at the Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church, 80 Mt. Auburn St., near Watertown Square. It is maintained solely by volunteers. Operating on the principle: Take what you need, give what you can, the Fridge provides free food to anyone in need, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no questions asked. In this time of high inflation, many people in our community are experiencing food insecurity, and are not able to afford basic necessities, like food and personal hygiene products.

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Watertown Restaurants, Charles River Chamber Teamed to Provide More Than 700 Meals

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Watertown Community FridgeThe Watertown Community Fridge, located at 80 Mt. Auburn St., provides free food and meals to those in need. The Charles River Chamber’s Nourishing Watertown program has helped provide more than 700 meals to those in need through the Watertown Community Fridge. The Chamber funded this year’s program through Trip Advisor and some private donations, said Greg Reibman, president of the Charles River Chamber. The Chamber provided the following information:

Since May a total of 721 meals have been delivered to the Watertown Community Fridge, with participation from eight Watertown restaurants and three volunteers.

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Watertown Community Fridge Preparing for Thanksgiving

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Community Fridge:

The Fridge coordinating team has been planning for the change of seasons and all the Holidays it brings! We are hoping to have a full fridge in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and we appreciate any donations you can offer. Any monetary donations will go towards large fridge shops for Thanksgiving food, produce, and pantry items. You can donate via Venmo (@WatertownCommunityFridge), PayPal, or check. 

As always, we need volunteers to ensure that the fridge is clean and donations follow guidelines twice per day. The Volunteer Sign Up is updated every Sunday with additional slots.

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Local Restaurants Delivering Meals to Community Fridge as Part of Nourishing Program

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Watertown Community FridgeThe Watertown Community Fridge is being filled with meals from Watertown restaurants participating in the Charles River Regional Chamber’s Nourishing program. It is located near the church at 80 Mt. Auburn St. The following information was provided by the Charles River Regional Chamber:

Over the past two years our chamber’s food assistance program has purchased more than 15,000 meals from independent restaurants in Newton, Wellesley and Needham and delivered them to families and individuals in need. This morning we’re making our first meal deliveries in Watertown as we expand our Nourishing program yet again.

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Watertown Community Fridge Moving to New Location

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Community Fridge:

We’re so excited to share that the new home for the Watertown Community Fridge is the Belmont Watertown United Methodist Church (BWUMC) at 80 Mt. Auburn St. The fridge will “close” at its current location on April 20th and will move on the 23rd. We hope to reopen in our new space on April 24th. The Fridge Team couldn’t be more grateful to the community, including the Fridge’s first host at Francis Market.

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Watertown Community Fridge Looking for New Home

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Watertown Community FridgeThe Watertown Community Fridge, located outside Francis Market. The following announcement was provided by Watertown Community Fridge:

The Watertown Community Fridge is looking for a new home! Do you know a local business that is interested in hosting the Fridge and supporting food security in Watertown? The Watertown Community Fridge team is grateful to our hosts at Francis Market, but we need a new space so we can keep serving our community. We need to leave our current space by April 20th, so we’re hoping to find a new host ASAP and we want to make sure it’s the perfect partnership for everyone!

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Public Can Learn More About Watertown Community Fridge at Virtual Meeting

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Watertown Community FridgeThe Watertown Community Fridge, located outside Francis Market. The following information was provided by the Watertown Community Fridge:

The Watertown Community Fridge coordinating team will be holding a virtual meeting on Monday, January 31st from 7-8pm on Zoom. This is an opportunity for community members to learn more about the Fridge and to get involved. Please see attached the slides that we will go over in the meeting. For information about how to get on the 1/31 Zoom email Watertowncommunityfridge

Watertown Community Fridge Now Open, Give or Take Food for Free 24/7

Charity

LETTER: Watertown Community Fridge Fulfilling Important Role in the Community

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I first heard of the community fridge concept last year, after they began to appear in the Boston area in response to the pandemic illuminating and exacerbating the amount of people experiencing food insecurity. The one recently established in Watertown — in the parking lot of Francis Market, 1084 Belmont St. — is an accomplishment for which we should all be grateful to its founders and be proud as a community. A community fridge not only plays a direct role in addressing food insecurity and food waste, but also teaches us so much about what it means to be neighbors. The motto you’ll find on the Watertown Community Fridge’s posters and postcards says it all:“Take what you need, give what you can.” The purpose of a community fridge is to provide free food 24/7 to anyone who visits.