Fries of Hope: Putting a smile on your face, one fry at a time

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Fries of Hope is a unique initiative to help refugees passing through Vienna’s central traffic hub, the Hauptbahnhof, on their way to asylum in Germany: Volunteers are giving away hot and delicious French fries to refugees and helpers, thereby proving that all we need in this moment of crisis is love, tolerance, and deep-fried potato strips.

Fabian Braesemann (left) and Fabian Stephany (right) with two volunteers at the Viennese Hauptbahnhof.

Founded in September 2015, at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, Fries of Hope offers a humorous twist to its more solemn mother organization Train of Hope: Lift the plight of refugees by not only providing what they desperately need – food, shelter, basic hygiene – but what actually puts a smile on their faces in a time when occasions for optimism and cheer are rare. 

Fabian Braesemann, PhD student in economics at Vienna’s WU and one of the initiative’s founding members, relates how the idea for Fries of Hope was born: 

“Whenever there was a party at my place, my guests used to bring along frozen French fries. Everyone who knows me is aware of my serious love for – some might call it obsession with – my deep fryer. I just love frying!” 

Fabian’s obsession even made him bring along his fryer to other people’s parties, so that his mobile frying station soon became the talk of the town. When Fabian moved to Vienna to live with his girlfriend (the only love that comes before his fryer), he decided to dedicate his talent to a good cause: 

“I thought: 'Who doesn’t love fries?!' If I was wet, cold, hungry, and exhausted from a tiring, lengthy journey, burdened with a traumatic past and faced with an unsure future, the only thing that could possibly make me forget my hardships, if only for a fleeting moment, would be a bowl of steaming hot fries. I truly believe that humans’ love for fries is universal, and our project proves this day after day.”

The queues in front of Fries of Hope's deep fryer speak for themselves...

The core team of the Fries of Hope initiative consists of Fabian Braesemann, the boss fryer, Caroline Wenger and her mother Martina, who encouraged Fabian to take his fryer on this new and biggest adventure so far, and their mutual friend Fabian Stephany, expert for social media and outreach. The three students are supported by friends and co-workers, who take shifts in frying at a mobile frying station right at the entrance of the Viennese Hauptbahnhof, where the bulk of refugees meet and spend the day.  

Together, the frying crew aims for the stars: By the end of the project, Fries of Hope wants to have given away a tonne (1.000 kilos) of French fries to refugees and helpers. Each day’s progress is tracked meticulously on the Fries of Hope Facebook page – and it’s advancing fast: The team has just acquired a professional XXL fryer and a donation of more than 500 kilos of frozen fries by McDonald’s. They have currently used a total of 287 kilos of fries, 52 tubes of ketchup and and 90 small tubes of mayonnaise– and they are not going to stop any time soon. 

A "fry-o-meter" keeps track of the day's progress.

If you too want to get involved with Fries of Hope, visit their Facebook page for more information and contact. Donations to ensure that Fabian’s fryer never turns cold are accepted via their crowdfunding page. Stop crying, start frying!