South Side Pride Community Freedge

The "Freedge" is a place where residents from the community can come and leave food or take what they need without judgement.  The free refrigerator as well as the shelves containing nonperishable food products is housed at the South Branch of the Elyria Public Library- right in the heart of the Elyria South Side neighborhood.  The food brought to the "Freedge" goes very quickly, so we are unable to keep up with the demand.  This funding will allow us to keep the refrigerator and shelving stocked to sustain the "Freedge" for a longer period of time.  With the cost of food continuing to rise, it has become even more challenging for families to feed their children fresh, healthy food.  Our goal is to help the South Side families that are in need, so that no child will have to go hungry.

The Freedge is currently in operation but depends on donations from the community which are not enough to keep up with the demand.  Once the needed funds are raised, nonperishable food items and hygiene products will be purchased in addition to staple items for the refrigerator including fresh produce.

Currently, one in four children in America grows up in poverty.  However, in the Elyria South Side Neighborhood, 74% or almost three in four children live in poverty.  This is an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation.  It is estimated that the per capita income of the residents in the Elyria South Side neighborhood is lower than those found in 98.2% of the neighborhoods in America, making it one of the poorest neighborhoods in our country.

In addition, the Elyria South Side neighborhood is known as a "food desert", meaning that it is an area where it is difficult to buy affordable or good quality fresh food.  It is for this reason that the "Freedge" project came about.