A third, but currently only, refrigerator as part of Fareground’s Community Fridge Program has opened inside of Beacon’s Howland Public Library. This, coming after a tumultuous removal of the first two community refrigerators in June and September 2025 as a result of some neighbor complaints at the relocation of the first fridge from Binnacle Books to a residence at 23 Cliff Street, and the City of Beacon’s eviction of the second community fridge at the City’s Parks and Recreation building at 23 West Center Street.

The free toiletries and hygiene collection available to anyone in need at Beacon’s Howland Public Library.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

According to Michelle Rivas, Adult Services & Community Engagement Librarian for the library, who spoke to A Little Beacon Blog about the program, the Howland Public Library had been in talks with Fareground for a possible partnership to offer a 3rd refrigerator to the community before the first two were removed. The library already has a Tiny Food Pantry inside, as well as an Essentials collection, which offers free toiletries, socks, underwear and other needs to any person in need.

“When the SNAP benefits were paused and the other fridges in Beacon were removed,” Michelle told ALBB, “we knew it was the time to get things moving.”

When some people in the Beacon community reacted with outrage over the removal of both community refrigerators, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White had Heidi Harrison, the Assistant Recreation Director for the City of Beacon’s Parks and Recreation Department, deliver what could be viewed as a humiliating critique of the Parks and Recreation’s view of Fareground’s management of the refrigerator.

To justify his eviction of the community refrigerator during the October 15, 2025 City Council Meeting, City Administrator Chris had Heidi present pictures of the fridge at different points over its lifetime, as Chris sat behind her in the jury box of the City courtroom, insisting on code enforcement of the community refrigerator at levels that restaurants need to reach and maintain. Chris also made unfounded criticisms of the type of food offered from the fridge by anonymous donors, saying his own mother wouldn’t take food from it. He then played the religion card, saying food that respects ethnic and religious diets was not offered. Some community members called his guided presentation “unhinged,” and KK Devina, former member of the now disbanded Commission on Human Relations, called for his resignation. Meanwhile, many adults, kids and teenagers took snacks and other food from the refrigerator on a regular basis, and vocalized missing the resource.

“We are so grateful to Howland Public Library and the Friends of Howland Public Library for their commitment to food access in Beacon. Libraries are vital resources and community gathering spaces. Adding a community fridge makes our local library even more welcoming.”

— Jamie Levato, Executive Director of Fareground

City Administrator Chris’ ultimate recommendation was for the City of Beacon to hand out food cards to people to buy their own food. This partially happened during the SNAP food crisis, where Mayor Kyriacou proposed grocery gift cards to certified SNAP recipients only, and no one else. City Council approved $50,000 to be spent on the food access initiative at the November 3, 2025 City Council Meeting. The money was transferred from the “City Council - Planning Studies” budget earmark, to “Food Assistance - Community Outreach.”

New Refrigerator Partnership Between Howland Public Library and Fareground

Purchase of this new refrigerator was sponsored by the Friends of the Library, Michelle told ALBB. The Friends of the Library is a fundraising extension of the Howland Public Library that has its HQ next to the library - The Beacon Reads Bookstore - which sells used books, staffed by volunteers.

“We are so grateful to Howland Public Library and the Friends of Howland Public Library for their commitment to food access in Beacon. Libraries are vital resources and community gathering spaces. Adding a community fridge makes our local library even more welcoming,” said Jamie Levato, Executive Director of Fareground. “Our Fridge/Pantry Care team is still seeking host sites for additional Beacon Community Fridges. Please reach out if you would like to host a fridge or pantry or if you would like to join the care team.”

Opening day was Tuesday, December 23rd, before the library was closed Wednesday - Friday for the holiday. The library was open until 8pm that evening. Fareground mentioned that a ribbon cutting is being scheduled for January 2026, which is when donations from the general public will begin being accepted. Guidelines will be released of what can and cannot be accepted into the Community Fridge also at that time.

The new refrigerator has a glass door. “It was important to us to select a fridge with a glass door so it was easier for community members to easily see what was available,” Michelle told ALBB. “The glass door also makes it easier and for the library outreach team and Fareground volunteers to monitor the fridge and keep it clean and safe,” she concluded.

Tuesday Night’s City Council Workshop Meeting for 10/14/2025 covered:

Budget Presentations from Police and Fire Chiefs, and Parks and Rec Director Mark Price. Overview of South Avenue Park improvement to Loopers Basketball Court in time for Beacon Hoops kids community basketball program. The price reduction of the summer pool from $100/household to $20. The Skate Park upgrade. More.

Finance Director Susan Tucker’s note about the 3 largest areas of the budget that are fixed.

Housing discussed. Intricacies brought up as to why it’s so hard to afford Beacon, like FICO scores. Mayor open to face making Short Terms illegal to increase housing stock for long term rentals.

Community Refrigerator discussion led by Heidi Harrison and Mark Price, illustrating their 5 years of being involved with the one at the Parks and Rec building that is not owned by the City, even though people accessing the fridge often think it is. Heidi maintained that people who use the fridge are like family to them, but that the current management system is not working. Well intentioned, but something else is needed with management. She stressed how quickly the fridge can degrade in quality and dignity even within a few hours of a drop off of donated food. City Administrator Chris White stressed how the food labels and health regulations that restaurants follow were not applied to the fridge. He proposed buying people WIC and suggested the organizations should fundraise (they fundraise a lot as it is). This is an ongoing discussion.

Special Portion Dedicated To The City of Beacon’s Abrupt, Unannounced Removal Of The Community Refrigerator At The Park and Recreation Building

This is a clip of the video recap of Tuesday’s City Council Workshop Meeting that recaps the discussion the City Council had with Parks and Recs Director Mark Price and Assistant Recreation Director Heidi Harrison.

They delivered a presentation with photos of the refrigerator at the Park’s and Recreation Department Building over the past 5 years, at the request of City Administrator Chris White, who ordered the removal of the refrigerator, citing zoning code violations and liability issues for the City of Beacon.

The full presentation is available in the City’s YouTube or Vimeo, so one should watch that for all points covered. Assistant Director Heidi stressed that this was not a criticism of organizations involved with filling and managing the fridges, but that the 24/7 access was too difficult to monitor.

City Administrator Chris had other choice words like that the food was not preferred, that his own mother would have rejected it, and that the food spoils. Both were concerned about marking the food with ingredients for allergens, and Heidi and Mark provided examples of half eaten pizza slices or sandwiches that well-intentioned people placed into the fridge thinking someone might eat. Mark mentioned a pie that someone took a bite of, that might be delivered nicely wrapped, but was a scoop-n-go for someone else.

City Administrator Chris said that a refrigerator on private property would need to be in an enclosed shed. He pointed out that there were many distribution sites available, and that maybe they should be consolidated.

As a person who has both used and contributed to these locations, ALBB can say:

Each location is its own community and vibe. Which is a pleasant thing to mix community feeling. Consolidating locations would be a loss to nurturing corners of the community.

Hours of operation are limited. Picking up from Wednesday Distribution requires that a person be available with a car in the morning on select days. Some people are at work. Or on a bus to work. ALBB worked remotely from her car with laptop while waiting in that line.

Everyone agreed that more communication and coordination was needed.