CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) is launching Free and Fresh Community Fridges at three library branches on July 1. The fridges will be available at the John L. Dart (1067 King St), Otranto Road (2261 Otranto Rd), and St. Paul’s Hollywood (5130 HWY 165, Hollywood) libraries. 

This program features a refrigerator at each participating branch that will be free and available to the public to both leave food and take food. “Take what you need, leave what you can,” said CCPL Associate Director of Community Engagement, Kathleen Montgomery. “These fridges, and the resources they provide, truly belong to the community.”

The Community Fridge program replaces the previous Free and Fresh Fridge program that relied on outside funding and donations to keep the fridges stocked with fresh produce. “The previous program was an emergent model that rose from needs during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” said Montgomery. “Unfortunately, that model was not sustainable, so we’re transitioning them to Community Fridges so we can continue to serve the community.”

The fridges will accept fresh whole fruits and vegetables. Alcohol, raw meat, packaged meals, expired or partial produce, etc. are not allowed. If you are interested in donating to one of the fridges, please contact the participating branch for details.

“Remember, only put in what you would take out,” says Montgomery. Any food items in the fridges are free and accessible to the public during library operating hours with no advance registration or sign up required.

Ultimately, the hope is by transitioning to this new Community Fridge format, CCPL can continue to provide this valuable service to those in need, without interruption or having to rely on outside funding that may eventually no longer be available.

“Through our fridge programs, we have been able to distribute thousands of pounds of free produce to the community, which we hope has contributed to improved health outcomes in those regions of the county,” said Montgomery. “We know that food insecurity and health disparities are prevalent throughout Charleston, and we are happy to continue to offer this service to the community through this new program.”

The original Free and Fresh Fridge program was made possible with support from sponsors such as Roper St Francis, Healthy Tri-County, The Joanna Foundation, and The Lowcountry Food Bank. We are thankful for the continued support of organizations like Katie's Krops, Fields to Families, The Stone Soup Collective, Vertical Roots, and the Charleston Parks Conservancy, which regularly provides a variety of locally grown produce for the fridges.

This program further expands CCPL’s efforts to promote food literacy across Charleston County. In partnership with the Lowcountry Food Bank, CCPL has been providing free after school snacks for children at several library branches through the Kids Café program, Charlie Cart cooking programs, and Summer Feeding, which is also in conjunction with a partnership with the Charleston County School District. The library has also partnered with the Lowcountry Food Bank in the past to distribute produce at select library locations through pop-up drive-thru events.

For more information about this and other services and programs, visit ccpl.org, contact your local library branch, or connect with the library on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.