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A Dartmouth, volunteer-run organization says it’s now buying nearly $6,000 worth of food each month for people to take for free from its community fridge.
That’s on top of food that community members and local businesses drop off at the Dartmouth Community Fridge, located on the grounds of a church downtown on Dundas Street.
The initiative began a few years ago. It’s meant to help those struggling with the cost of living.
People can take food whenever they need. The fridge is restocked by volunteers several times each day.
“When that food is dropped off, it’ll be gone within the hour for sure,” said Christene Nottegar, who’s been volunteering with the organization for about three years.
A recent Instagram post from the group also said more than $60,000 worth of food was purchased for the fridge in the year from April 2024 to March 2025. That money primarily comes from fundraising.
Nottegar said the amount the group is spending is a big number and demand continues to grow.
“People are really struggling,” Nottegar said. “Affordability just continues to be a major issue for a lot of people.”
There are over 60 active volunteers who maintain and stock the community fridge.
When CBC News visited the site this week, there was a steady stream of people dropping by to pick up food.
It’s a similar story at a pair of community pantries in another part of the city, which mostly provide non-perishable food items.
David Aalders, co-founder of the Fairview Food Pantry Project, said demand has picked up, particularly within the last year.
“Things are moving faster [out of the pantries],” Aalders said. “They moved fast to begin with, but even more so.”
More than 29 per cent of Nova Scotians lived in households reporting food insecurity in 2023, according to Statistics Canada numbers released in May.
Food Banks Canada’s recent annual Hunger Count report found there were more than 43,000 visits to Nova Scotia food banks in March — up more than 10 per cent from last year.
Nearly a quarter of those food bank visits were from people who reported employment as their main source of income.
“Meeting a lot of folks here [at the community pantries] who say, you know, ‘Yeah, I used to donate … now I’m coming, I need to take something’,” Aalders said.
He said the group tries to serve the Fairview area’s diverse community with a mix of food that goes beyond items like pasta and canned soup.
Back at the Dartmouth Community Fridge, Nottegar said it takes money and a strong community to put the amount of food the group gets into the fridge on a regular basis.
“That’s what this has been,” Nottegar said. “It’s been about people stepping up to support their neighbours.”
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