What’s with the fridge?: Saint John man launches unique food insecurity awareness campaign

A Saint John, N.B., man is carrying a fridge around town to raise awareness about food insecurity.

If you have strolled through Saint John in recent weeks, you may have noticed a man walking through the streets with an unusual backpack.

In fact, what Jesse Wright has been sporting isn’t a backpack at all, but an empty 35 pound mini fridge.

“I feel like I’m in a similar position as many Canadians,” says Wright. “We’re walking down the street or we’re driving down the road and we see tents, and we see homeless people, and we see drug users, and we want to do something about it, but we don’t know where to begin.”

The Uptown Fridge movement first started as a joke between friends. But it wasn’t until Wright was sitting in his car one night eating takeout that he started to think about his financial situation.

As he ate his burger thinking about how tight money had become, he realized he was still able to sit in a car he bought, fully clothed, with a house to return home to that evening. That’s when he got his inspiration.

“I took the hiking pack, cut it apart, attached it to the fridge, built a lumbar support so that the straps wouldn’t be so strained, and started walking around,” said Wright.

A few times a week, Wright will throw the fridge on his back and stroll through the city. He does so to spread awareness of the burden many Canadians face when it comes to food insecurity. His movements main tag line: no family should bear the weight of an empty fridge.

“The leap from it’s a fridge to food security issues wasn’t hard to make,” says Wright. “That’s when people started asking what’s your email? What’s your social media? Can I give you money? Where’s the money going to go? And I hadn’t thought of any of that.”

After taking time to learn more about the city’s food insecurity issues through the help of others, Wright began raising money and donations for various food support programs in Saint John. Since beginning his movement a few weeks ago, Wright has walked over 140 kilometres with his fridge in tow and has raised over $1,800.

P.U.L.S.E. was among the first groups to receive aid from Wright.

Community Coordinator Lisa Morris says the over $500 donated by Wright will support both it’s Food Purchasing Club and an afterschool snack program for kids.

“It is such a blessing,” says Morris, noting many families are having to chose between rent and groceries in a given month.“

A lot of times we’re understaffed, we’re underfunded, and so much of our time is trying to find funding and ways to help that this is not work for us. We are just able to provide food for our families with no strings attached which is incredible.”

Wright has set a goal to raise $5,000 and disperse the money evenly to various organizations every $250. He is also aiming to walk 1,000 km with the fridge strapped to his back.

Wright says the response to his initiative is beyond what he could have imagined.

“When I built [ the fridge backpack] I just thought I would walk around and cause a scene, and if people asked me questions, I would say go donate,” said Wright.

“Hopefully if this inspires any kids who have any sort of ideas to just do them. I have just been walking around with a fridge, and all this has happened.”

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