INDIANAPOLIS — There are stocked refrigerators across the Indy metro, available to anyone who is facing food insecurity.
They’re filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat items, thanks to local nonprofit Indy Community Pantry.
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Take what you need, leave what you can — that’s founder DeAndrea Rayner’s motto.
“We stock our refrigerators twice a week. It always goes so fast," Rayner said. “We started with one and now we have seven locations.”
Rayner created the free food pantry system in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She says her organization has helped feed tens of thousands of people over the past five years.
“Because the people look like me. I had a single mother. She had six kids. If something like this was going on, if we had community refrigerators when I was growing, it would’ve been amazing," she said.
The fridges get stocked thanks to donations from places like Dash Mart, Kroger or Walmart, as well as local pantries and neighbors with home gardens.
Local youth organizations also lend a helping hand.
“The government is obviously not helping us. So we need to rely on the community and bring it in," Volunteer Frenchelle Scott said.
Scott is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Girls In Training, or G.I.T., which works with at-risk girls ages nine to 19.
“They stock the fridges. They clean the fridges and we seek donations and we get those donations and go out and buy food," Scott said.
Indy Community Pantry is expanding.
They will add six additional fridge locations by the end of November, mostly on Indy’s far east side.
The pantry is always looking for food or monetary donations, you can help here.
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Nico Pennisi is the In Your Community reporter for Downtown Indy. He joined WRTV in October 2022. His passion has always been telling the stories of people who often get overlooked. Share your story ideas and important issues with Nico by emailing him at nico.pennisi@wrtv.com.
