Duo set up outdoor community refrigerator to fight hunger, poverty on Milwaukee's north side
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It’s something you normally don’t see: a refrigerator full of food, outside on a sidewalk.
But it's now in one Milwaukee, northside neighborhood.
It's called the Milwaukee Community Fridge, and it's in the Lindsay Heights/Johnsons Park neighborhood.
You'll find it near the corner of 19th & Fond Du Lac, right outside the Tandem restaurant.
“It nourishes the community," resident Willie Ross said.
Ross was just one resident who stopped by on Wednesday, Aug. 19, to shop for some free food.
“You’ve got a lot of people who aren’t in school right now and a lot of these kids are being fed right," he added.
“They look out for the public," resident Robert Mitchell said.
Milwaukee residents Hataya Johnson and Sarah Tramonte installed the fridge.
Inspired by a similar project in New York, they joined to fight hunger where it would be needed most.
“It’s just such a diverse group coming to benefit, old and young, all different ethnicities, it’s been really, really amazing to see," Johnson explained.
Caitlin Cullen, owner of Tandem, said she let them set up, and plug in, free of charge.
Cullen also told CBS 58 this neighborhood is at least 40-percent below the poverty level.
And that’s exactly why the women say they chose this location.
“We also are being aware of grocery stores in the proximity to make sure that we know where the food deserts are," Tramonte explained. "One of our goals is to eliminate a lot of the food desert issues that are going on in Milwaukee.”
Johnson and Tramonte rely mostly on donations and local food markets to stock the fridge.
It was installed on Saturday, Aug. 15, and already they say people want to put up others around the city.
To find out more information, click here.
If you would like to donate, you can also give via the Cashapp or Venmo applications, just search "MkeCommunity Fridge".