A free grocery store is opening today at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Academic Middle School in San Francisco's Bayview through a collaboration between Amazon, the YMCA, and Goodr, a sustainable food waste organization.
In the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood, 11% of children live below the poverty line, according to a 2022 census report.
The small, 300 sq ft, free store is stocked with essentials like fresh produce, dairy, baking ingredients, and bread. It also carries shelf-stable goods and non-food items like deodorant.
Amazon provided the funding while the room at the school was provided by the YMCA of San Francisco.
Goodr, in charge of store operations, stocks the shelves by recovering surplus products from stores and producers. This is their first location in California, and their thirteenth store nationally.
Tyson Fechter is the Principal at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. He says, "As a community school we meet the needs of our community so its like this is where we start, we get feedback, we see what's working, what needs to be improved, and who knows what it will look like next year but its about constant improvement and iterating on what we have to make it better.”
The store will operate weekly throughout the 2024-2025 school year.