ATX Free Fridge - Dittmar & S 1st

The ATX Free Fridge Project, which started during the pandemic to combat rising food insecurity, works like a little library for food: take what you need, leave what you can. But one fridge will close this month due to mistreatment. https://www.kut.org/austin/2026-01-08/austin-tx-free-fridge-project-closing-trash-dumping-dittmar-south-first

📣 Our beloved Dittmar fridge will be permanently closing February 1st, 2026. Please spread the word!

The fridge and food stand will be available for donations and use up until then.

Thank you everyone who's helped make this such an impactful community resource for the last 5 years! This small but mighty stand has served thousands of people in that time. Every little thing we do to support each other matters. 💕

Transparently, this location must close for many reasons. First, due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, our host cannot continue to host the Dittmar free fridge and pantry. Second, even before this recent change in the host’s capacity, the trash situation at Dittmar was out of control and continuously unmanageable despite our best efforts. Like with the now closed 2nd St location, we need a lot more people caring for/cleaning the fridge for it to be a sustainable resource.

We welcome new hosts in the area for a fridge + pantry only! (We will not have clothing closets at any future locations due to persistent dumping).

If you would like to help search for a new host for the Dittmar fridge in southwest austin, please see the host FAQ document linked here:https://ugc.production.linktr.ee/b9e7e2f8-f1ae-44b5-8abc-840fdd1ac4d3_New-Host-FAQ-1.pdf

We most sincerely thank every single person who has contributed in any way to the beautiful story of the Dittmar fridge. We look forward to applying all that we have learned from the robust community built around this fridge toward the co-creation of the new locations to come!

Howdy, friends!👋
A lot of questions about how to use the free fridges have come our way so we have created this access guide! 📒🍋
This guide goes over what mutual aid is, where all fridge locations are, and fridge dos and don’ts! 🤗
Please DM us if you have any additional questions or email us at [email protected]
🍋

Dittmar fridge's biggest problem by far is the trash situation. We have a lot of donations daily, which is amazing, but will easily get cluttered. Dittmar will get 100-200 people coming by EVERY single day!

Ways you can help:
🍋 PLEASE help tidy when you can
🍋 Bring an extra trash bag with you and take our full trash bag
🍋 Do not leave overflowing boxes!

Thank you all for being part of this project! So many people are in need right now and we need to continue to support each other in the ways we are able to. 🥰

¡Hola, amigos! 👋

Recibimos preguntas sobre cómo usar los refrigeradores gratuitos, por lo que hemos creado esta guía de acceso 📒🍋

Esta guía es sobre la ayuda mutua, dónde se ubican todas las ubicaciones de los refrigeradores y qué se debe y no se debe hacer en el refrigerador.

Por favor, envíenos un mensaje si tiene alguna pregunta adicional o envíenos un correo electrónico a [email protected]
🍋💛

Check out our updated FAQ’s 🙌

‼️REMINDER‼️
- no freezers at any location!
- please help keep it clean by picking up trash!
- don't leave boxes!

If you would like to financially donate, you can do so here: https://opencollective.com/atx-free-fridge-project

If you have any additional questions please DM us or email [email protected] 💛🍋

Si tiene alguna pregunta adicional, envíenos un mensaje privado o envíe un correo electrónico [email protected]

Hi everyone! I’m Christa, the fridge host. You’ve likely seen me and my critters out in the yard or cleaning up the fridge. Please always feel welcome to say hi. 👋

I don’t post personal stuff because this project is about the community and couldn’t exist without the help and support of all of you participating. I’m just hosting the space for us to gather and share resources. But today is special to me and I wanted to share the story of the fridge with you.

I had my last drink of alcohol 8 years ago today. 🍷 And through my recovery journey I found AA. I honor everyone has their own path and this is in no way a sales pitch for AA. lol. However those meetings are largely the reason the Dittmar fridge exists today. For the first time in my life, I found a safe space where I experienced unconditional acceptance. I was amazed at how all these different people of every walk of life could come together in a loving and supportive way, without judgment for eachother’s situation. And that changed me.

In late 2020, I got lucky. I’d been living with my parents for 9 months, saving up all my money, and was able to keep my job through Covid. This allowed me to buy this home. Aware of this privilege, I wanted to create a safe space for people to share resources and access food. The world is so abundant, no one should have to go hungry. And many resources like the food bank are helpful, but also have a lot of barriers; such as transportation, needing the proper id card..etc.

The first prototype was the pink shed pantry. I was immediately amazed and saddened by how many people needed this service. So when I met the folks, who I was so in awe of, we teamed up with to build this beautiful structure.

We now get 30-100 people/families coming by each DAY! There is such a need to support our neighbors right now. And it’s always a work in progress. I am excited about some new things we are creating such as the community garden, plant stand, eggs from my hens! 🐓

Thank you for making this project possible. It truly takes a village and I’m so honored to be in this village with you. The fridge is all of ours. 🩷

Love,
Christa

We love our local post office!!

Earlier this week I came home to a note from my mailman that they had a food donation! 💌 Did you know every May, the USPS across the country does a food drive? In Austin, all the food goes to the Central Texas Food Bank. However people kept donating and they ended up with a literal truckload of leftovers.

Thankfully my mailman loves us, and recommended the rest be donated to !!

My assistant 🐕 helped me pick up from the south USPS on Menchaca and also north off Lake Creek pkwy! 💝 The food got distributed to Dittmar, Dove Springs, 2nd street, and Brentwood!

If you have large food donations. Please let us know. It’s nice to share the love between several fridge locations. ❤️🩷💜 And support your local post office 😉

Hopefully some of you have noticed all the work I’ve been doing in the yard next to the fridge! Over the last year, I’ve been learning so much about the importance of incorporating native, pollinator-friendly plants in our yards and how that supports local wildlife ecosystems that are collapsing because we haven’t created enough space for them in our urban areas. But the good news is we can all help!! Even planting natives in a small part of your yard helps! 🌿🌷🐇🦎🐝🐌🦋🐞

Just like we need to feed and support each other, we need to support our non-human neighbors too! 🩷

I’m still new to this, but would love to support anyone that wants to bring some drought-resistant natives into their yard. Since they started blooming in my yard about a month ago, I’ve gone from seeing the very occasional bee or butterfly to up to a dozen every time I walk outside. 🦋🐝 And so many little toads at night! 🐸🪱🐌 The little things we do help.

I am also working to incorporate more veggies, herbs, and fruit trees into the yard that will add fresh produce to the fridge. 🥰🍑🍉🥒

So wether you want help planting in your yard or if you’d like to come play in the dirt here and help me build a food forest for all beings, let me know! 💜

Love,
Christa (the fridge host)

The ATX Free Fridge - Dittmar & S 1st got a community garden today thanks to a friend who donated the beds and herbs. So excited to start sharing fresh produce and herbs.

If any gardeners want to contribute please hit me up!