On Bharatwaja Street in East Tambaram, there is a curious sight for passersby. In these parts, a community fridge is a novelty and there is one smack in the middle of restaurants. Beyond these restaurants, there are houses.
Due to these two factors, the community fridge can be expected to be filled with food. The location of the fridge enables the poor and the needy to access it without any difficulty.
Next to the fridge, a cupboard has been placed for people to leave stationeries, toys and clothes.
Pagirndhu Unn, as the community fridge is called, was installed by Geetha Kumar with the support of her classmates from the 1976-batch of Church Park School.
The fridge was opened by Tambaram Municipal Commissioner K. Krishnamoorthy on November 9.
The community-fridge concept — which is about leaving excess food in a strategically-placed fridge to feed the hungry — is common in most metros, and in Chennai, it has been gaining ground over the last few months.
“I shared the idea of setting up a community fridge with my school friends and after weeks of planning, we were ready with the facility,” says Geetha, a social worker.
The fridge is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. A banner with “dos and don’ts” has been erected near the fridge. Only vegetarian food is allowed. “I place 50 food packets every afternoon. I prepare the food at home,” says Geetha.
Jana Hotel and Daily Freshers are among the restaurants that support the initiative on a regular basis. A watchman has been employed to ensure distribution of the food. “We stick to an ‘Each one gets one’ policy so that no one goes hungry,” she says. Plans are afoot to install cameras around the fridge, shortly.
Geetha is happy with response to the initiative. “A person in wheelchair came all the way from Camp Road to get a food packet. People are now coming forward to contribute food on their birthdays and anniversaries. I see this as a welcome change, ” she says. The batch plans to install more community fridges in the suburbs.
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