Denver Community Fridge program expands amid pandemic By JOHN WENZELJanuary 16, 2021 GMT Jim Norris is loving the Denver Community Fridge program — despite having reservations at the start. “Any trepidation I had about (negative) neighborhood reactions or people abusing it are gone,” he said recently on the one-month anniversary of the fridge’s debut outside his store at Ellsworth Street and South Broadway. “In fact, I’m surprised at how it’s taken off.” When 24-year-old Eli Zain, founder of Denver Community Fridge, emailed Norris months ago about hosting the fridge, Norris immediately said “yes.” The idea of stocking fresh, donated food for food-insecure residents and unhoused people was something he was already working on thanks to Mar Williams’ Squash the System, a donation cart offering free, fresh vegetables. (Now, in the winter months, it’s a canned-food program.)