HONG KONG (AP) – Most people who head to Woosung Street in Hong Kong’s old-fashioned Jordan district visit the popular restaurants serving everything from curries to seafood. Others may be headed for a lonely refrigerator painted blue with a sign that says, “Give what you can give, take what you have to take.”
The door of the refrigerator outside a hockey academy opens to reveal that it is stocked with packets of instant noodles, cookies, cans of food, and even socks and towels for everyone who needs them.
Ahmen Khan, founder of a sports foundation on the same street, said he was inspired to create a communal fridge after watching a movie about others doing the same. He found the refrigerator at a nearby waste collection point and painted it blue.
“It’s a dignity that when you go home, you open the fridge to get food,” Khan said. So I want people to feel that way. Even if it’s a street it’s their community it’s their home so they can just open it up and put food there and get the food. “
Khan’s blue fridge project went viral on social media and people stopped by to let in food.
Janet Yeung recently dropped by with a plastic bag filled with cookies, instant noodles and snacks. She carefully stacked them inside.
“I think doing good deeds doesn’t have to be done on a grand scale,” said Yeung. “A small act can show all our kindness and contribute to this world.”
A resident who would only identify himself as Yeung (no relation to Janet Yeung) is one of those benefiting from the blue refrigerator, helping himself from time to time with some food or even masks left by donors.
“Those who really need it can get things out of the fridge whenever they want, because the fridge is here 24 hours a day,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Zen Soo contributed to this report.
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“One Good Thing” is a series that highlights glimpses of joy in troubled times – stories of people finding a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the collection at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing