The University of Connecticut Solidarity Fund (UCSF) is opening a community fridge on the second floor of the Rowe Center outside of the Academic Achievement Center.
The solidarity fund secured $1,000 to purchase the fridge, and are currently planning to build a new pantry, according to Jake Timchak, an eight-semester economics of sustainable development and management major and an active member of the solidarity fund.
The community fridge will be a resource in which anyone can give or take food unconditionally. It is similar to other programs like little free libraries, operating with a “give what you can, take what you need” mentality, Timchak said.
According to UConn’s December 2025 report on food insecurity by the Office of Budget, Planning and Institutional Research, 37% of UConn students reported food insecurity, with logistical issues, specifically far distance and limited opening hours, being cited as top reasons for a lack of utilization for existing food support programs.
“By placing the fridge in the center of campus at Rowe and leaving it open for the building’s long Monday through Friday hours, we directly address these issues,” Timchak said in an email. “Additionally, by creating a hub with minimal barriers to entry or university intervention, we further lower the barriers to entry.”
In addition to the community fridge, the solidarity fund is organizing artists to paint a mural on the wall behind the fridge, as well as working with the Academic Achievement Center to organize a shared labor agreement, according to Laura Coderre, a sixth-semester Environmental and Natural Resource Economics student and active member of the solidarity fund.
The fund aims for the mural to be designed by UConn and Mansfield community according to Coderre, taking “inspiration from community murals around the country and bringing their own experiences into it.”
Artists interested in helping with the mural can reach out to the solidarity fund on their Instagram @uconnsolidarityfund. Designs are welcome anytime, with the mural implementation planned for early next semester, Coderre said.
“In the future, the fund also looks to engage local restaurants and supermarkets to facilitate donations,” Timchak said. “We will also look to stock the fridge with information on community resources such as rental assistance, HIV prevention, PrEP prescriptions and harm reduction supplies such as naloxone and fentanyl test strips.”
Timchak said this is the fund’s effort to “create a non-hierarchal physical center for collective action, where everyone is involved in creating a better UConn.”
The solidarity fund works with fellow organizations dedicated to combating food insecurity, including Fridgeport ,an existing community fridge initiative in Bridgeport, and UConn Environmental Health and Safety, which helps develop effective safety protocols.
The UConn Solidarity Fund, founded in 2025, works to provide equality through a solidarity approach, according to its Instagram page.
Community fridges are becoming more common in Connecticut, with community fridges currently located in Bridgeport and Yale University sponsoring its own fridge called the Dwight Community Fridge.