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Inspired by his own struggles, BR man fills community fridge with meals to fight food insecurity

1 month 3 weeks 3 days ago Monday, October 21 2024 Oct 21, 2024 October 21, 2024 5:31 PM October 21, 2024 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - One man's mission to combat food insecurity is making a significant impact on the community. 

Britt Parnell spends his Sundays preparing home-cooked meals, completely free for the community. By Monday morning, there's barely a trace of his delicious food. 

There are two fridge locations in Baton Rouge, both on Government Street. They provide the opportunity for members of the community to give back and combat food insecurity.

Parnell said he does this because he has seen the other side of food insecurity. 

"When I moved here, I was in treatment for drug addiction and when I got out I was food insecure, and didn't know where my next meal was coming from," Parnell said.

His girlfriend Holly works at The Red Shoes, a community organization that hosts one of the fridges. That's how Parnell discovered his calling.

"I've been wanting to fill it as often as I can so people don't have to go through what I went through," Parnell said.

In just five weeks Parnell has prepared 250 meals for the fridge, and his goal is at least 2,500 by the end of the year.

The fridges don't just have hot meals. Parnell says he takes into consideration everything he puts in the fridge, like parfaits.

"I wanted to do something special for addicts out there going through withdrawals, so the probiotics and the protein helps with the nausea and dehydration, electrolytes from the berries," Parnell said.

Executive Director of The Red Shoes Racheal Hebert says this is what makes the fridges so important. 

"People like Britt, come together and make weekly meals which stock our fridge, we also have a group of community volunteers that come every week to The Red Shoes to make sandwiches, so whenever community members take this on it really makes a huge impact," Hebert said.

Last week, the community fridge at The Red Shoes broke down. A new one was donated on Monday, so they can continue to feed those in need. The other fridge is at the art collective Yes We Cannibal.

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