Worcester Community Fridge Seeks New Main South Home

WORCESTER, MA — The original Woo Fridge needs a new home.

The community fridge offering free food to anyone who needs it outside Fantastic Pizza at 910 Main St. has to leave its home of more than two years, according to the Worcester Community Fridge group.

"We want to thank Saket Lohia and all the employees of Fantastic Pizza for their generosity and flexibility as we worked together to navigate neighbors accessing food via a community fridge," the group said in a social media post. "Also extending a thank you to the students of Claremont Academy, for sharing their art work with the community. Thank you to Superior Waste and Cruz Contracting for working with us to manage the inevitable trash overflow that comes with this work."

The Main South fridge was in some ways a proof of concept for the local free fridge movement — and there are now four free-fridges in Worcester, including in neighborhoods like Union Hill and Greendale. Worcester Community Fridges is scouting a new location for the Main Street unit.

Anyone in the community who wants to host the fridge can contact the group. The location should be in Main South — and preferably still along Main Street — near a business or organization that has staff to watch over it, access to a Dumpster and the ability to "proactively trouble shoot issues as they arise."

The local free-fridges grew out of a mutual aid project during the pandemic, but have continued to serve a city where 15 percent of residents are dealing with food insecurity, according to Worcester Community Fridges.