Rector's Note: So glad to be among the neighbors-8.7.25

Since the end of June, the Abington Community Fridge, tucked on St. Peter’s back porch between the kitchen and the wheelchair accessible door, has been a place where area residents can find free fresh vegetables, homemade sandwiches, bottled water, frozen meats, and more. Community members stop by at all hours to both fill the fridge and take items home.

Recently, a large cabinet has been added next to the fridge to store non-perishables and personal care items, which people can access even after the doors to the nearby St. Peter’s Food Cupboard have been locked for the night.

The Abington Community Fridge is an exercise in mutual aid, which means that residents of the wider community volunteer to stock and clean the fridge. It was the brainchild of local beekeeper Yovina Miller and is being managed by Glenside resident Misty LeCompte. Rick DeKalb, who coordinates St. Peter’s Food Cupboard, and our deacon, Bob Smith, have been working with Yovina and Misty on the project.

As our contribution, St. Peter’s secured a grant from the Diocese’s Episcopal Church Women Steering Committee Domestic Mission funds to pay for the first fridge, which Gerhard’s Furniture sold us at cost. The grant also allowed us to install the appropriate electrical hookup for the appliance and to add new lighting to the porch. And there are funds available to manage repairs.

Other than that, the project allows us to be one among many neighbors caring for one another in time of need.

And so far, it’s working. The fridge fills up and empties out. People visit it throughout the day and well into the evening, when there is more privacy or when busy schedules allow. Volunteers have secured contributions from local grocery stores and food distribution programs. People drop off produce from their gardens. Leftovers from our own kitchen uses, such as fellowship and funeral banquets, have been packed up, labeled, and placed in the fridge.

Gerhard’s recently sponsored a community baseball tournament to raise funds and collect food for the project. That, in turn, spread the word to more people and engaged a wider section of the community in the project.

In these fractious times, the Abington Community Fridge is a gentle reminder that our wider community shares values of goodwill and care, and that people are willing to do what they can to help one another.

Managing the fridge, including ensuring it’s maintained and cleaned, involves the use of online organization tools and social media platforms. Volunteers can sign up for regular slots to fill, clean, and report on the fridge content by visiting the fridge’s Linktree site. The fridge’s content is reported daily on the Abington Community Fridge Instagram page, which you can follow at @abingtoncommunityfridge. You can also follow the fridge on Facebook.

You can add items to the fridge at any time, but make sure to follow these guidelines. All food must be unexpired, sealed, and labeled with ingredients listed. Acceptable items include fresh fruits, breads and pastries, unopened yogurts and milk and other beverages, fresh eggs, cured meats in sealed packages, wrapped and labeled sandwiches with expiration date and contents on the label. Sealed and labeled raw meat and fish can go in the freezer. Do not donate: alcohol, partially consumed meals, unlabeled items, expired items, or anything that you personally would not eat.

The Abington Community Fridge is literally and figuratively adjacent to St. Peter’s Food Cupboard, which is just on the other side of the doors. The Food Cupboard is open during building hours, from roughly 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It accepts only non-perishable items and small personal care items, such as diapers and soaps. Volunteers stock the shelves regularly.

Because space at both the Community Fridge and Food Cupboard is limited, please do not drop off furniture, clothes, or other items. For example, the used crib mattress that someone left on our shelves is not something that we can store or share, and it had to be thrown away. New Life Thrift up the street is designed to receive those sorts of donations.

Meanwhile, thanks to all who are participating in this project of mutual aid and community care. I’m so happy to see this in place after more than a year of discussion and planning!