Taylor Scott founded RVA Community Fridges nearly four years ago, inspired by similar mutual aid initiatives in California and New Orleans.

After growing hydroponic tomatoes in her apartment, she found herself with an “excessive amount” and saw an opportunity to give back. 

Recently, when one of the 14 fridges maintained by the organization was vandalized twice in a week, Scott and her team of volunteers rallied support from the community to restore it.

 The disheveled fridge at Tequila & Deadlifts, a gym in Carytown, was posted by RVA Community Fridges on social media.
 

“We don’t have staff that stocks the fridges — it’s community members who take the time off their day to help us keep these full,” Scott said. “When you see them wasted and not going to the community like we intended them to, it’s heartbreaking.”

Posts about the incident sparked conversations on social media, with many expressing outrage. Despite the heartbreak, Scott doesn’t want to vilify the person responsible for damaging the fridge. She explained that similar incidents have occurred before, and often, the individuals involved may be facing personal challenges.

“Most of the time it’s someone in crisis who may need resources, may need assistance and utilizes the fridges, that may be hurting the fridge itself. But that’s not any reason for us to punish them,” Scott said.

In response to online posts about the vandalism, people donated money and food to help restock the fridge. Scott was both amazed and grateful for the support, which allowed her team to fund trips to the grocery store.

“We sent community members out there over the weekend to go to the grocery store on their own and grab whatever they wanted, and we reimbursed them,” Scott said.

This particular fridge has been moved twice now. It was originally located at Black Rabbit Tattoo, before moving to Tequila & Deadlifts two years ago. Scott and her team of volunteers found a new location for the fridge in front of Shelf Life Books in Carytown. Chris McDaniel, co-owner of Shelf Life Books, welcomed the addition and assisted with putting together a pallet for the fridge to sit on.

“We were excited, we really weren’t sure if we could do it, you know. We had to measure and see where we had outlets and everything like that but we were absolutely like ‘if we can do this, let’s do it,’” McDaniel said.

Scott hopes the new location will deter further vandalism. She recognized that some have suggested the installation of cameras to deter future incidents, but worries that cameras could deter people from using the fridges.

“We’re not here to be a part of the systems that are surveilling our community,” Scott said. “For some people, having a camera above them to do that might make them uncomfortable.”

Information on how to donate and a map of the organization’s pantries and fridges is available at rvacommunityfridges.com.