A white refrigerator sits inside a red shed on Government Street in Mid City, welcoming the community to free food all night and day.

The fridge is operated by Red Shoes, a faith-based nonprofit, located next to the fridge at 2303 Government St., and residents are invited to take as much as they need. The fridge is continually stocked as local volunteers drop off donations multiple times a day to help keep the fridge full.

Red Shoes, which was founded to help women with spiritual and personal growth, opened the fridge to residents in 2021 to ensure that no one goes hungry in the city. But with skyrocketing food prices and the recent, record-breaking government shutdown, the fridge has become a valuable resource, community members say.

Visits to the fridge average about 200 people a day,

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