Group of UBCO students hopes to relaunch a Kelowna community fridge

Reviving community fridge

Photo: Jaims Cox

The Kelowna Community Fridge was closed after vandalism at the previous location along Lawrence Avenue.

A group of students is trying to revive the Kelowna Community Fridge.

The fridge has been stocked with free items for those experiencing food insecurity.

It first opened at the headquarters of the Kelowna Unitarians on Bertram Street in spring 2021. It was then moved to outside Burke Hair Lounge on Lawrence Avenue in early 2023.

However, the fridge shut down a couple of years ago due to repeated vandalism and other problems.

Now, four students in the Bachelor of Sustainability program at UBC Okanagan (Thea Vermeulen, Madi Koch, Sydney Barnden, and Jolina Elsworth Larose) have come together with the goal of getting it up and running again.

“Madi, one of the group members, she was part of the fridge when it was up and running, I believe in 2021. Since then, she’s always wanted to get it started again, and we have the opportunity to do it now, so she brought up the idea to us,” said Thea Vermeulen.

“At this stage, we are focused on rebuilding the project thoughtfully and collaboratively, learning from past challenges while engaging local businesses, organizations, and residents in early conversations,” she added.

Vermeulen said she and the other organizers plan to host a public meeting in the next couple of weeks to share more about the project and get community input. The biggest hurdle will be finding a new location for the fridge.

“We’re currently still trying to figure out exactly where,” she said.

“We’re hoping to have the fridge up in September of this year, so we’re still definitely taking a couple of months to just make sure we have everything set up before we open up the fridge.”

Anyone interested in the project can email [email protected] or follow Kelowna Community Fridge on Instagram.