“I get a call, … I’m waiting outside on the street corner. … A pickup truck shows up, with a fridge on it. Two guys get out and drop this fridge on the street. And that’s literally the way it started. These two anonymous guys, who drop this fridge on the street. … And there’s this guy named Ruben. And he’s the gatekeeper of the block —making sure everyone’s on good behavior and nobody messes up the block and he says to me, ‘What is this?’ And I say, ‘Its a community fridge,’… ‘A fridge for the community?’ he asks. ‘Yeah,’ I say, and then he says, ‘I got you Dan, you and me, we’re going to do this’…
It was during COVID, and Dan Zauderer was a 6th grade Humanities teacher at the American Dream School a charter school in the South Bronx, New York. The American Dream School specifically served the undocumented Latin American community. And because Dan taught in Costa Rica for a while, his Spanish skills were good, and it allowed him to get to know his students really well.
Because he took the time to lean in to the school community, he discovered that many of many of his students’ families did not have access to basic resources. He sent out a survey via text message to eighty eight families and what he learned, changed the course of his life. One in four families were cutting down on meals or skipping meals a few times a week.
“The first project,’ he tells me, “Was raising money online. By tapping into the contacts he’d made throughout his life, he was able to raise in the tens of thousands of dollars. They raised money for hotspots, for books for summer reading and food supplies… "It was a great experience, to know that you could rally community that way.” They began to send staples to his student’s families —cleaning supplies, beans and rice. But some of the families struggled more than others.
They enrolled six families in a food delivery program, where they received weekly boxes of produce. Over time, the money ran out, but the food insecurity did not. It was in that experience that the seeds of Grassroots Grocery were sown.
Dan Zauderer is a community builder, social entrepreneur, and the driving force behind Grassroots Grocery. His journey began as a middle school teacher at the Bronx’s American Dream School, where he discovered that one in four of his students were facing food insecurity. That moment changed everything. Leaving his teaching job, he co-founded the Mott Haven Fridge Network, a grassroots initiative that grew into Grassroots Grocery, a volunteer-powered movement bringing fresh, healthy food directly to communities that need it most.
As you listen to this conversation, consider:
Food insecurity is not a new concept. In every community, there are people who struggle to gain access to food that is healthy and sustains them. Where are the pockets of food insecurity in your community?
Who are the organizations who support those who are struggling to eat? Food banks? Community kitchens? Community fridges? Volunteer. Donate. Support their work.
Dan’s experience as a salesperson, coupled with his teaching and language skills, were the ingredients for creating change in his community. What are your ingredients? What can you create from the skills you have?
