PETERSBURG, Va. — A Petersburg nonprofit that fills stomachs with free food from community refrigerators is in need of some help with a new location.
The Justin J. Davis Heart Foundation has been operating these refrigerators since 2021, offering fresh produce and other food items to those in need.
"Food insecurity is real," said Karen Brown Davis, who runs the Justin J. Davis Heart Foundation. "People are hungry."
The brightly painted refrigerator in Ettrick serves 20 people throughout the day, according to Teresa Roberts, who works across the street from the location.
The concept behind the community refrigerators is straightforward: "Take what you need. Give what you can," Davis said.
When the refrigerator door opens, Davis wants people to find "fresh produce, fresh fruit, we want them to see eggs."
Every Monday morning, volunteers restock the refrigerator after the weekend. The recent delivery included red potatoes, white potatoes, pickling cucumbers, radishes, cabbage, eggplants, squash and zucchini.
A stocked dry goods box sits beside the refrigerator, providing additional food options.
The foundation has developed a network of volunteers and community partners who help keep the refrigerators well-stocked.
Rachel Lawmaster from Virginia State University's Randolph Farms is one of those partners.
"At Randolph Farms we are able to donate a bunch of lettuce that we grow in the hydroponic greenhouse, all the vegetables that we grow at the different plots," Lawmaster said.
Lawmaster stocks the Ettrick refrigerator at least twice a week.
"By the next day it's usually halfway gone and by that second day, it's usually empty again," she said.
The foundation is now looking to add a new location in northern Dinwiddie County after a previous location had to close. Davis hopes to find a spot near the traffic circle.
"We want it to be in a safe, well-lighted place where it's convenient for people to walk as well as to drive up," Davis said.
Another new location is planned in Petersburg on Beech Street at a Parks and Recreation picnic facility, where an electrical outlet has already been installed.
Davis emphasizes that the refrigerators need to be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as some people feel ashamed to pick up items during daylight hours. The refrigerators are known to stay busy at night.
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