Indy Community Pantry feeds hungry through community fridges

Starting in 2020 with the spark to create a change, DeAndrea Rayner established the Indy Community Pantry with the hope to help people struggling with food insecurity in her area. “I was just asking myself ‘what can I do to assist them?’,” said Rayner, who began her initiative by placing newspaper boxes full of food around the city. After noticing how quickly the newspaper boxes seemed to empty, Rayner wondered what else could be done to get food into the hands of those who needed it. To increase the food availability, Rayner started thinking bigger. With the help of the local community and volunteers, as well as generous donations, Rayner established three refrigerators across Indy to help food-insecure people find a meal. DeAndrea Rayner with one of the Indy Community Pantry fridges (Photo/ DeAndrea Rayner) Along with the five dry goods pantries, the refrigerators are take-and-leave, meaning you can take anything you’d like, and donations are free to be left if they are prepackaged and not expired. While Rayner has been gaining traction on social media from her work in the community, she maintains that keeping the fridges stocked can be difficult. “The food goes so fast. I can put...