After being vandalized, repaired, and even thrown away in apparent confusion, East Elmhurst residents now have a community refrigerator again.
“Being able to help in any way especially with something like food and feeding is so important,” said Andrew Sokolof, a volunteer.
The original refrigerator was installed in October of last year in front of the office of State Senator Jessica Ramos on Junction Boulevard.
But last weekend she was vandalized: her door was removed and several cables were cut.
After the incident, Ramos’ office received $ 35,000 in donations to maintain a new refrigerator.
But before the new one arrived, two good Samaritans and refrigeration technicians Gustavo and Andrés Gil repaired the refrigerator that had been damaged.
“I said hey I am capable of fixing that so my dad said come on, we have to fix that right now,” explained Andres Gil, owner of GB Repairs.
But the story does not end here.
The repaired fridge was picked up by the garbage truck and thrown away.
Apparently the garbage collectors weren’t aware that the fridge was already working again.
This morning we came across this: no fridge on site. Hours later the Astoria Food Pantry, a food bank donated another refrigerator that arrived in the afternoon.
“We are very happy that we will be able to continue this program and thanks to the donations,” said Senator Ramos.
