Westside Family Healthcare continues to feed food insecure population in Dover
DOVER – On 1020 Forrest Avenue in Dover, there is Westside Family Healthcare. It’s a comfortably nestled community health center inside a shopping center near the Kentucky Fried Chicken shop and a vape store.
Not only does it provide health care for adults and childern but it also has two 24/7 free community fridges stocked with fresh produce, grains, milk, and much more right outside the center. It is the only known community fridge in Dover.
The first fridge was placed on the side of the center in October 2022 in partnership with Planting to Feed, a non-profit urban gardening organization in Wilmington. The center also partners with Ubuntu Impact, a foundation aimed at bridging “the hunger and healthcare disparity gaps in minority & underserved communities.”
According to Feeding America, one in eight people face hunger with one in six of those being children. In 2023, they estimated that Kent County has a food insecurity rate of 14.6%, a slightly higher rate when compared with New Castle and Sussex.
“That is a bigger problem that we want to just step in and support,” said Heather Patosky, director of external affairs for the center.
This year, Westside Family Healthcare is partnering with the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce through their Leadership Central Delaware class to help grow the amount of community fridges in Dover. The center was selected as the 2026 community service project.
Through this partnership, the center was able to add a second fridge about three months ago and they will also receive shelfing to store non-refrigerated items. They are also raising money to help stock the fridge. According to Ms. Patosky, it costs $500 to $600 to fully restock one fridge every week. She added that within three hours of refilling the fridge, it is empty.
“That’s not small money,” Ms. Patosky said. “It’s pretty expensive. So, having just those partnerships and getting selected, it means a lot to us.”
The healthcare center also partners with local companies and organizations such as Fifer Orchards in Camden-Wyoming who provide fresh produce weekly during the growing season.As a healthcare center, they see the fridges as an extension of the helping to improve health outcomes by fighting to decrease food insecurity.
“The goal of this was to find a way that we could provide healthy foods for people who might not have access to healthy foods. They might only have access to things that might not be the best for them,” said Ms. Patosky.
How the community fridge works is either a volunteer or a staff member of the center will pick up the food from one of their partners and then that food will immediately be taken to the fridge.
If there is too much food already in there, then they will keep some inside the center and use that reserve to replenish the fridge once it starts to become more empty. They encourage community members with gardens or farms themselves to donate food for the fridge.
Ms. Patosky said that there is at least one person per day that uses the community fridges. She said that it is hard to quantify how many people have benefitted from the community fridges since opening four years ago. She added that many regulars who come say it’s when they don’t know what they will be able to eat for dinner that the fridge is crucial for them.
“One of our volunteers shared that there was a woman who was pregnant and she said she hadn’t eaten since yesterday and that that food was going to get her through the next day,” recalled Ms. Patosky. “I think the impact is removing that barrier that comes between someone being able to eat that day or not.”
Westside Family Healthcare continues to feed food insecure population in Dover | Bay to Bay News
