Village Freedge: A jobless hairstylist buys a community fridge from her savings

• Sherina Jones, a hairstylist who had to close her salon due to the pandemic, started a community food bank to help her neighbors.
• She asked for donations for her project Village Freedge, which flourished as more and more people were helping in giving out refrigerators and food.
• Sherina now plans to expand it into a non-profit food bank to reach more people to help.

Instead of feeling down about the temporary closure of her salon due to the pandemic, Sherina Jones, in high spirits, rather looked for ways to help.

Seeing her neighbors struggling to survive, Sherina thought of setting up a community food bank. In August, she bought a refrigerator from her own savings, placed it in a poor village in Miami, and put a sign on it saying “take what you need, donate what you don’t.”

The warm reception of her little project encouraged Sherina to start an online fundraiser called Village Freedge. More and more residents started offering help, some even tag their kids along to assist in stocking up the pantry.

With the donations she received, she purchased two more refrigerators to place around the city. Soon enough, homeless and striving people began to rely on the Village Freedge.

“People come by and stock the fridge during the evenings or buy a bulk of things and drop it off. I’m so appreciative,” Sherina shared. “We’ve all come together to take care of each other.”

As nobody might have expected, one of the fridges was stolen just before Thanksgiving Day. Sherina cried for days over what happened.

“I was devastated that someone would do something to hurt the community,” she explained. “You hurt the 80-something people I feed a day.”

The terrible episode was soon replaced with blessings. The project sparked generosity among people.

Weeks before Christmas, more donations came. Classmates that Sherina hadn’t had contact with for years gave refrigerators, food, and cash after seeing her appeal on Facebook.

A local minister donated a bigger fridge, with a built-in cabinet so it won’t be stolen, as he heard the story about the lost refrigerator.

Local artists even designed and sold T-shirts, and used the proceeds to donate to the village project.

Home-grown businesses restrained holiday parties so they could donate food boxes.

After raising over $23,000 on GoFundMe, Sherina held a toy drive and provided a happy Christmas morning for 400 families in her area.

Currently, Sherina is still running the community project, with three refrigerators. Her mom and aunt are helping her with the logistics.

The incredible hairstylist envisions to expand Village Freedge into a non-profit food reservoir to reach more and more people who are fighting to make ends meet.

Has Sherina inspired you yet?

Source: Inspire More