Friendly Fridge marks five years of filling bellies

Just down the hill from Manhattan University (MU), a public refrigerator acts as a lifeline for thousands of people in need every week. With food flying off the chilled shelves as quickly as it’s restocked.

Friendly Fridge BX who partnered with the MU last winter, marks five years of feeding the community.

Launched in May 2020 by co-founders Sara Allen and Selma Raven, the nonprofit was established to address the fast-growing rate of food insecurity at the height of the pandemic.

It established the Bronx’s first-ever community fridge, with several organizations in the borough adapting the model in the following years. Months shy of its fifth anniversary, the Friendly Fridge BX’s has grown into a well-oiled machine, distributing nearly 70,000 pounds of produce and prepared meals weekly. 

Since its inception, Friendly Fridge has partnered with more than 25 schools, businesses, and other local groups. MU is one of the latest additions to its list of repeat donors, adding dozens of pounds of food to the fridge daily. 

Feeding an ever-increasing number of people is no easy task, but volunteers like Larry Lavine are making it possible. Every Monday evening, Lavine picks up donations from Breads Bakery in Rockefeller Center and the Gotham Pantry, ensuring that no food goes to waste.

Pick-up and drop-off schedules vary daily.

“[On Tuesdays], volunteers begin gathering at the Fridge around 11:30 am, opening up the doors, sweeping the sidewalks, sanitizing the shelves, setting up tables and spreading the trays out to begin repacking into smaller containers,” Raven said.

Around 1:30 p.m., a truck from Hunt’s Point arrives with five to ten pallets of fresh produce to distribute. As the day progresses, other donations roll in—extra slices from Marianne’s Pizzeria and Addeo’s Pizza and bagels from Riverdale Bagels. 

Soon, a call comes in from nearby Atmosphere Charter School, and a volunteer is sent to collect several large insulated containers filled with extra apples, milk and lunches. While it’s enough to ensure everyone in line is fed, the demand for assistance continues to grow.

“We’ve been trying to make inroads into Manhattan [University] for years,” Allen said. “We approached the food provider, we wrote letters, but it was only in 2024 that things started to happen.”

It wasn’t their emails that ultimately kickstarted the collaboration, but a curious student new to the neighborhood.

“In late August, I stopped and read the 'take what you need, leave what you can' sign, and thought, ‘Huh, that’s an interesting concept,’” Christopher Fidanza said, a sophomore baseball player and recent transfer student at MU. 

It’s an issue that hit close to home. He described his father, a South Bronx native, as someone who grew up with the cards stacked against him. Fidanza has a special place in his heart for other Bronxites facing the same deck.

On his next visit to the fridge, Fidanza met Raven and the two quickly discovered they shared a common goal – to redirect the university’s food waste to the fridge.

The demand for food assistance in New York City has reached unprecedented levels. According to City Harvest, monthly visits to food pantries and soup kitchens in 2024 spiked by 82 percent compared to 2019, the first year on record for such data.

According to the New York Department of Health, one in four adults in New York State experiences food insecurity, struggling to access adequate and nutritious food. Often, this is due to physical or socioeconomic barriers. The rate is even higher in the Bronx, with nearly 40 percent of the population affected—making it the most food insecure county in the state.

“We're seeing it ourselves,” Raven said. “The numbers in food insecurity have increased, and our lines are getting longer.”

Co-directed by Father Edward Beck and Father Robert Joeger, Campus Ministry and School Action (CMSA) played a crucial role in advocating for the partnership with the administration.

Colleges and universities are among the largest generators of edible food waste in New York City, second only to restaurants and caterers, trashing more than 200,000 tons annually. The National Resources Defense Council estimates that higher education institutions contribute about 30,000 tons, or 5 percent of the city’s total food waste.

“I learned that there had been requests in the past that had been denied because of supposed food safety issues and risks of someone getting sick,” Beck said. “But then I learned about liability protection for donors giving to nonprofits and brought it to the attention of the [president of Gourmet Dining].”

With this newfound information, MU’s Gourmet Dining pursued daily donation pickups from its dining hall, with Zaro’s Bakery facilitating the process. In November 2024, the first boxes stuffed with croissants and other tasty pastries were walked to the fridge, marking the school’s first donation.

Currently, 10 student volunteers are in rotation, dropping off that day’s leftover goodies each weekday afternoon. 

With the Friendly Fridge BX marking half a decade on May 21, Raven reflected on the organization’s journey.

“We never expected the growth that we’ve seen in the Friendly Fridge BX, and yet we are not surprised because the need has not diminished,” she said. “We are thankful to be an evolving part of a sustainable solution and even more thankful for the community we have discovered in this process.”

Started as a grassroots initiative, the fridge has grown to provide thousands of pounds of food to the community daily and implemented the Fridge Buddy app last year. Fridge Buddy was created by Horace Mann School senior, Joshua Borut.