NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A Brooklyn nonprofit is fundraising to replace a community fridge that was stolen right off the street, the organization said.
The Pakistani American Youth Organization (PAYO) released security footage it says shows multiple thieves wheeling away their community fridge right from outside their Midwood office on Friday, Sept. 17.
Clips shared by the organization show at least two men wheeling the fridge away in the middle of the day along a busy Coney Island Avenue.
“The guy took it like this is garbage,” Waqil Ahmed, the organization’s founder, told CBS2. “Like they paid for it. They didn’t pay for it. This is organization, money, people money.”
Ahmed told News12 Brooklyn that the 24-hour availability of the fridge has complemented the group’s popular food pantry events, which draw long lines of residents in need of groceries. The fridge is typically stocked with essential items like milk, yogurt and other produce.
"People have access 24/7, seven days a week. There's no restriction, except we had one item per person,” Ahmed told the station.
Organizers said they were returning from running a food pantry at a local mosque when they realized the fridge was missing and checked security footage.
“After returning from our 4th Food Pantry of the week at @MasjidIqra we saw that our Community Fridge was missing. After reviewing the footage we determined it has been stolen!” the group posted to Facebook.
“We will be reporting this to the police and in the meantime will try to raise money to replace it,” it added.
A GoFundMe set up by the organization has raised $885 of its $2,500 goal.
The NYPD said there have been no arrests in the case.
Community fridges had become a popular mutual aid tool that nonprofits and businesses have placed around the city to help people struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. Another community fridge was destroyed back in January outside of Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos' office in East Elmhurst.