WORCESTER, Mass. - Worcester Community Fridges is adding another refrigerator to their lineup to help address food insecurity in the city.

Just like the other fridges, anyone in the community can access it free of charge, but the fridge now outside of Superior Waste & Recycling at 2 Kansas Street is meant to be a resource for Worcester's unhoused neighbors. It's open 24/7, welcoming everyone to share food and help maintain it.

“They can expect a bag lunch, this is an example right here," said Terry O’Connor of Superior Waste & Recycling. "We've got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, bag of chips, a cosmic brownie, and a Diet Coke. We would really love stuff like this - bag lunches, something like a sandwich, something to drink, a snack - stuff that's ready to eat so that it doesn't have to still be prepared, warmed up.”

“We're making all bag lunches so that you can just grab it and go because there's a lot of people around here that may not have a fridge or a stove to cook food in,” Maggie O’Connor said. “So, this way they can just grab it and they have a meal versus having to go somewhere and prepare it.”

Dennis O'Connor said Superior Waste's relationship with Worcester Community Fridges started back when they opened their first fridge and needed somewhere to throw away extra trash. Now he's glad to be able to help join the growing list of fridges.

“The first one they put on Main Street at the pizza place, that's where I met it and first heard about it and thought it was a great idea,” Dennis O’Connor said. “And I knew something like this would work because of the number of homeless people around this area that come and go. So that's why we decided to do a little bit different. Still working with the community fridge, they support us. They got us the fridge, they built the shelter, they promote it. But we put in prepared meals to make it easier for people in the neighborhood to come grab some food.”

The O'Connors said a lot of the donations to their new fridge have been coming from schools like Saint John's, Saint Paul's and Saint Peter's.

They also said they've developed a bit of a system to make sandwiches and pack lunches through the week, but could always use more help with donations.