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​New Orleans Community Fridges were started in July of 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by a small group of volunteers.  Fridges started popping up around the city as a way to help address food insecurity.  Anyone could put food into the fridges and anyone could take food out. The hosts were community organizations, homeowners, restaurants and local farms.

The NOCF network was able to connect fridges to hosts, hosts to volunteers, volunteers to fridge needs, fridges needing artists, and fridges needing builders for shelter. 

NOCF received donations from the community as a way of providing assistance to folks that wanted to be a part of the movement without the means to do so.  Simply put, this offering back to the community looked like fridge purchases and repairs, supplies for powering and sheltering fridges, assistance in covering electricity bills, compensating BIPOC local artists, providing funds to Community Shoppers and chefs, and other operating costs, etc.

Over the past years, NOCF has become a project larger than anyone could have imagined. 

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As of 2025, the fridge network contains thousands of volunteers and serves countless individuals and families around the greater New Orleans area.  There is no centralized fridge organization and instead everyone is asked to step up and do what they can to help each other.  Everyone has the opportunity to provide and to receive collective care as we work towards dismantling the systems that oppress us. 

No one is fed, until everyone is fed.

The best place to join the discussion is on the NOCF Community Facebook Page. 

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