Oakwood Students Help Tackle Food Insecurity

POUGHKEEPSIE – What started by students as a project to address food insecurity in their Literature of Direct Action class has grown into a community collaboration with Community Matters 2, Inc. – the Poughkeepsie Community Fridge. Since the fridge’s inception in 2022, Oakwood students have raised nearly $10,000 through grants and their Go Fund Me page to support their neighbors in need.

Community fridges began to be used during the COVID pandemic to distribute food without gathering large groups together. Community organizations have built several networks of fridges in the Hudson Valley, including in New Paltz, Kingston, and Beacon. The Poughkeepsie Community Fridge receives regular donations from groups like the Poughkeepsie Farm Project (PFP) and Poughkeepsie Friends Meeting, but it is also supported by individuals. According to research done by Poughkeepsie Plenty, an anti-hunger organization working to eliminate food insecurity locally, 1 in 4 households in the City of Poughkeepsie are food insecure by USDA standards, higher than the national average of 1 in 6. Even more worrisome, 1 in 10 households suffer from severe food insecurity, meaning they often go hungry.

Students meet weekly to shop for items that are in high demand for the fridge such as milk, eggs and non-perishables like rice, pasta and sauce. They also collaborate with one of the student founders of the fridge, Kishi Oyagi ’23, a junior at Vassar working with Vassar Hunger Action. Another partner is Hope on a Mission whose weekly street outreach in the City of Poughkeepsie includes packed sandwiches made by Oakwood students. The students also maintain a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram (@poughkeepsiecommunityfridge)

To learn more or support the fridge contact Oakwood’s Community Fridge Faculty Advisor Julie Okoniewski at jokoniewski@oakwoodfriends.org.