While over 1,000 Islanders go without SNAP benefits this month, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is trying to bridge the gap with a new food equity program.

The hospital has set up a community fridge full of free food, called the FREEdge, in the lobby of the emergency room. It’s stocked with pre-prepared meals and soups approved by hospital dieticians and cooked by hospital cafeteria workers.

The FREEdge is for everyone, not just patients or employees of the hospital, and is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Since the Trump administration decided to cancel SNAP benefits amid the government shutdown, SNAP beneficiaries across the Island have found themselves in limbo and struggling to meet their nutritional needs.

The outsized burden on Island food assistance providers has led several community organizations like the hospital to create programs of their own. The West Tisbury Library also operates a FREEdge that is open to the public.