Heather Elder Represents
Reps Journal

Building Community Through the Love Fridge

Video directed by Dan Goldberg with DP Simon Reinert. Shot it in Dan's garage. Love Fridge artist: Mac Blackout. 

Dan Goldberg’s vision through gathering goes beyond the chairs around a dinner table, and certainly beyond the walls of his downtown Chicago studio. When he says there’s always room for one more at the table, he means it. Conscious of the world around him, and the community in his backyard, he believes that we are stronger together. So it’s no surprise that he found a solution to the extra gourmet food left over from shoots. The Love Fridge is a Chicago-based initiative to nourish those who need it, through mutual aid. 

While Dan has always donated food left over from shoots to the food bank, there are times when they cannot accept the food. Aware of the food insecurities that people from his community experience, he needed to find a solution and discovered a Love Fridge in a nearby neighborhood. In awe of the many individuals a Love Fridge can feed, Dan purchased one that sits on his studio porch.

It is truly a community movement, as anyone can add food as well as pantry supplies. It seems that the excitement about this project is infectious as many people close to Dan have begun regularly donating. His dentist, for example, donates toothbrushes and toothpaste. And nothing goes to waste. Dan says that he can fill up the fridge in the morning and by the afternoon it is totally cleaned out. Placing fliers around the neighborhood in three different languages ensures that all members are aware of the resource.

Dan has never questioned the importance of his Love Fridge, as he says that as a food photographer, he has a responsibility to do what he can to reduce the amount of food insecurity and increase access to good food. 

Feeding over 10,000 meals this past year, the Love Fridge feeds neighbors with integrity. To learn more about the Love Fridge, link here. If you'd like to volunteer, link here

And If you’d like to make a donation to help fill Dan’s Love Fridge and feed the members of his studio’s neighborhood, Email Dan here.