March 2, 2026

Have you heard? There is a new option for food access. Located at the covered entrance of Drake Community Library. Check out the Community Fridge is you are in need of food. No questions asked.

If you are interested in donating to help support the Grinnell Community Fridge please read the following guidelines.

Because we are committed to maintaining food safety protocols, we are only accepting donations from organizations who are servsafe certified, which means that we cannot accept food donated by individuals. We will provide a way for community members to donate monetarily to the fridge in the near future.

We are asking local businesses and organizations who prepare food and who would typically throw left over food away to donate that food to the fridge. Acceptable donations include:

• whole fruits or vegetables
• milk, eggs, cheese
• commercially-packed food
• prepared meals

If donated food is not pre-packaged, it should be in sealed, meal-sized containers. The containers should be labeled with the name of the food and any allergens (nuts, soy, milk, gluten, etc). Cooked food should be labeled with an expiration date of 7 days after it is made. We cannot provide containers, but we are happy to arrange for packaged food to be picked up.

If you are part of an organization that would like to donate food or has questions about donations for the fridge, you can reach out to Ryan Solomon, solomonr@grinnell.edu.