Grant helps Charleston Co. Library food program through off-season

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A grant from an area healthcare provider will help keep Charleston County Public Library’s community fridges stocked with fruit and vegetables.

The $10,000 grant from Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s Community Investment Program will go towards the library’s “Free and Fresh” program which provides fresh fruit and vegetables in areas with higher food insecurity and helps keep the program running during the off-season months.

Three Charleston County Library branches participate in the “Free and Fresh” program: Otranto Road Library, St. Paul’s Hollywood Library and John L. Dart Library which is currently closed for renovations.

CCPL said fruits and vegetables are stocked about once a week in these community fridges and are donated by the public when they have leftovers and local community partners. They say when the library receives grant funding they are then able to purchase produce and that produce could go as quickly as the end of the day.

CCPL Associate Director of Community Engagement Kathleen Montgomery said the grant from Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s Community Investment Program allows the continuation of the library’s program during these winter months when it is off-season for fresh local produce.

“The Roper St. Francis funding that we’ve received is really exciting,” Montgomery said. “Especially with the timing now because we’re able to purchase produce now in the winter when the growing seasons are leaner. In the summer we see a lot of donations from our local partners but the money from these grants, from this grant specifically, is going to be able to allow us to purchase produce to supplement.”

Montgomery said there is a high need for the “Free and Fresh” program and it is open to the community regardless of being a library member and does not require registration.

She said those who utilize this program have access to the fridges as needed. CCPL’s goal is to supplement these fridges as they can and say food access, food literacy, and equity are a big part of the library’s mission.

Montgomery said over 50,000 pounds of produce were distributed at the three participating library branches in 2022. Click here to donate to the program.

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