Born from volunteering. Built for community.
Second Serve NY exists because one volunteer saw two problems at once — and decided to connect them.
How it started
Second Serve NY was inspired by volunteer work with the Friendly Fridge — a community fridge movement that puts free food directly in the hands of neighbors who need it.
Through that work, two things became impossible to ignore: the incredible need in our community, and the staggering amount of perfectly good food that goes to waste every single day.
Restaurants close with trays of untouched food. Bakeries end the day with unsold loaves. Grocery stores pull items before they expire. Meanwhile, families in the Bronx and Westchester go without.
Second Serve NY was created to close that gap — making it simple, flexible, and free for local businesses to donate surplus food and help feed our neighbors.
The Friendly Fridge connection
The Friendly Fridge network places community refrigerators in neighborhoods where food access is limited. Anyone can take what they need, no questions asked. Second Serve NY works alongside this model — channeling donated food from local businesses into the fridges and distribution points where it's needed most.
"No one should go hungry when there's food nearby going to waste. Second Serve NY is our answer to that."
What drives us
Simplicity
We remove every barrier between a business with surplus food and a neighbor who needs it.
Community
We're rooted in the neighborhoods we serve — Westchester County and the Bronx.
Dignity
Food rescue is about more than logistics. It's about treating every person with respect.
Want to be part of this?
If you run a business with surplus food, we'd love to hear from you. Registration takes five minutes.
Become a food partner