The Friendly Fridge, MR 10Y Fundraise

May 18th, 2020, was the 7th anniversary of Michael Raven’s passing. Michael was extraordinarily passionate about creating access to healthy food for everyone and advocated relentlessly for fresh produce to be available in food desserts. In his work, he often said, “No one should go hungry” .

On that day, while scrolling through Instagram we came upon a post for a Community Fridge that had recently been installed on the sidewalk in Harlem for people in the community who needed some extra help.

Three days later we had The Friendly Fridge BX up and running with the help of electricity provided by The Last Stop. A year later, the Fridge was relocated a few yards away at Jerusalem Cafe. Plugged in on the sidewalk at 5983 Broadway, the Fridge is open 24/7 and is available to anyone who needs healthy food.

1 in 6 Americans will experience food insecurity at some point and this number is growing during the pandemic. In the time since the Fridge has been plugged in, we’ve talked with folks who have expressed sincere gratitude for the resource as they work to make ends meet. As such, the Fridge is filled up and emptied on an average of 5 or 6 times a day. The Fridge moves approximately 5-7 thousand pounds of food weekly.

Mothers, fathers, senior citizens, students, cab drivers, home care attendants and so many more are stopping by the Fridge to take a few things to help supplement their groceries. One mother talked about how the gallons of milk go straight to her growing teenage boys while another mother was so excited to find fresh peppers, onions, tomatoes and beans to make a nutritious meal for her family.

As one women recently said to us, “Hunger has no name.” And she’s right. She added, “I love when I come here, it’s always clean and there’s always fresh produce. No questions are asked. I don't have to give my personal information."

The Friendly Fridge BX is a part of collective efforts rooted firmly in mutual aid. Working together with volunteers and other community fridges, the goal is to provide quality foods directly to the community.

The Fridge is incredibly grateful for individual donations of groceries and yet the need continues to grow. Therefore we need your help as we build sustainable partnerships with farmers markets, community gardens, pantries and other community organizations in our efforts to rescue and redirect foods. These sources will help to supply the Fridge with fresh, locally-sourced produce and prepared meals.

All donated funds go toward:

- Purchasing fresh produce from surrounding farms and local wholesalers who support the community fridge movement

- Transportation and logistics of both donated and rescued foods

Over the past three years since our inception, we’ve learned a tremendous deal about food waste, its impact on the environment around us and the power it holds to alleviate hunger for so many. Run entirely by a team of volunteers, the Friendly Fridge BX is all about community-based solutions. Our hyper-focused mission this year is developing and strengthening partnerships within our community to redirect good food from the landfills and instead, sharing this food with anyone who may need a little extra help. 

We currently partner with over 25 schools, pantries, community centers, restaurants, catering companies, farms, CSAs and other organizations to redirect extra foods directly into the community.

We now redirect approximately 27,000lbs of food per week from the landfills.