Mercy Solis: Welcome to People of UT, the show that introduces you to members of the UT community who have made a positive impact, big or small, on other community members. I’m your host, Mercy Solis.
Solis: Living in West Campus, it sometimes feels like no one says hi to their neighbors. In a place where many students move every year, building a sense of community can be challenging. But Maya Crane, a third-year Government and Mexican American Latino Studies double major, believes in the power of connection.
Crane: I think it’s so important to know your neighbors in a very literal sense, like the people who, like, live next door to you, but also your neighbors in terms of just, like, people who, like, live around you, people who work around you, people who exist around you,
Solis: Maya was a core organizer for the West Campus Free Fridge. In March of 2024, after over a year of planning, she successfully opened the West Campus fridge location.
Crane: A person who’s food insecure is not entirely sure what the next thing they’re going to eat is and when that’s going to be. So, there are obviously levels to that, different extremes. But on West Campus, specifically a food desert, basically, it just means that it’s really difficult to find fresh, affordable food in West Campus. There aren’t any affordable grocery stores.
Solis: After recognizing a need for change, Maya Crane began working with ATX Free Fridge project to open a new location in West Campus
Crane: The ATX Free Fridge Project is a mutual aid initiative founded on the principle of solidarity, not charity. There’s no hierarchical structure, it’s just community members wanting to help each other. The whole setup of it is take what you need, give what you can. A free fridge is a refrigerator that’s available 24 7, where there are no restrictions, there are a lot of resources that are available, where maybe there’s certain qualifications that you have to meet, maybe you have to put your name down, maybe you have to, be a certain amount of time sober, maybe you have to make certain commitments to things, maybe you need to have a home address, or an ID, or all of those things, and the Free Fridge Project was really just wanting to make sure that everything was as accessible as possible, that you didn’t have to do anything in order to receive help if you were wanting it.
Solis: After months of searching, in October 2023, Pearl Street Co-op agreed to host the fridge. That was a major breakthrough for the project. What followed were months of bureaucratic paperwork and fundraising. Once they secured enough funds, they began building the structure for the fridge. Crane then proposed painting it pink, adding a vibrant and welcoming touch to the project.
Crane: I love pink. It makes me feel safe. It makes me feel happy. I love it so much. I painted the fridge pink. Oh my gosh, that was really funny. I like texted, our group chat of, like, the other core organizers at ATX Free Fridge Project. And I, like, texted them, like, can I, because I, I waited so long. I was like, I want to make sure this is, like, a done deal before I pitch this. But, it had been, like, almost a year. We were I think we had built it already. And it’s like, okay, time to paint it. And I was like, guys, I have, I have, I have an idea. Can I make it pink?
Solis: For Maya, this project wasn’t just about providing food; it was about fostering a culture of care and mutual support.
Crane: Where we live is very individualistic. The bottom line is always like, how can you help yourself? And, you know, I think that’s what causes us to make it very difficult to ask for help when we need it, very difficult to offer help when we see other people need it, and I think it requires like a re education almost of just making sure that like looking past yourself as like a person and Seeing yourself as like a part of a community, you know that you’re not everything you are a part of everything, you know.
Solis: After almost a year of the fridge opening, Crane continues to make an effort to be involved in her community by putting food in the fridge every Thursday.
Crane: The University Baptist Church, on Guadalupe. They do two weekly distributions every week. But the one that I come to pick up food for once a week is their Thursday distribution. They call it God’s Family Dinner. And it’s just an opportunity for community members, specifically like the homeless community to come in and get, a hot meal, like fully, fully balanced, nourishing meal and at the end of that distribution, I come in, along with anyone else that is offering to help me. I do have a friend that kind of, like, regularly helps me with that, which is really cool. And we go and we pack up all the leftovers and we take it to the West Campus Free Fridge. That way, none of the food goes bad and it, you know, gets continuously, like, put back into the community.
Solis: In addition to her work with the Free Fridge, Maya is also deeply involved in Her Campus at Texas, where she has been a leader for the past three years. Crane is now the editor-in-chief of HerCampus, where she leads over 50 members.
Crane: It was founded I believe in 2009 at Harvard and the three co founders were basically just looking for a place where writers could connect with each other and not just in, also, yes in a social space, but also in a professional space where it could act as a way for members to kind of get their like foot in the door in like media and marketing and like all of these types of things.
Solis: Crane enjoys giving liberty to the writers, and letting them add whatever pieces they wish to their portfolio.
Crane: Any kind of restrictions that girls have with writing are ones that they kind of, like, place on themselves, where they’re like, “Oh, this is, this is the style, this is the content that I want to create.” There’s no restriction on our end of, like, you’re not allowed to write about this. Obviously, there are regulations and rules, and just kind of like making sure that things are appropriate or factual, obviously, but in terms of like what youre allowed to write about, there’s a lot of creative freedom, which is something that I’ve always really enjoyed.
Solis: The org is also inclusive to non binary or gender non conforming genderqueer individuals who wish to participate.
Crane: I also just wanted to point out that it’s not exclusive to women, but in terms of like creating a supportive environment in general, we make sure that there are a lot of opportunities for people to kind of express concern if there ever is a situation where they need to express concern, but also just that members have a lot of opportunities to like get to know each other and become like genuine friends with each other where the relationship isn’t just professional or just social, but they’re able to be friends, be a community, and also become part of each other’s network where they’re able like in the future to call on each other and work together if that’s something that they want to do.
Solis: Through her work with the West Campus Free Fridge and Her Campus, Maya Crane has demonstrated the power of community and mutual aid. Her efforts remind us that small actions or simply getting to know your neighbors can make a big difference. She’s pursuing a career in humanitarian law, and there’s no doubt she will continue finding ways to uplift and advocate for others.
Solis: If you are struggling with food insecurity, you can check out the ATXFreefridge, UT Outpost, the Food Security Agency, University Baptist Church, and the West Campus Collective for resources and support. If you’d like to help the ATX Free Fridge Project, you can sign up for a slot to clean or donate food.
Solis: People of UT is a production of The Daily Texan Audio Department. If you liked this episode, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Texan Audio on your streaming platform of choice and follow us on Twitter @texanaudio. This episode was reported and edited by me, Mercy Solis. Music by blue dot sessions. Thank you for listening!
