Upper West Side Community Fridge

NYCHA Frederick Douglass Houses - 830 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10025

Give what you can, take what you need.

Accepting all donations of fresh produce, nonexpired unopened nonperishable goods, and dated/labeled single-serving prepared food in see-through containers.

volunteer

There are four ways you can volunteer to keep the UES Fridge stocked with fresh food and looking great:

You can fill the UES fridge on any day of the week. If you’ve got food you’d like to give, just sign up on the form and drop it off!

1. Donate food anytime

Sign up

2. Fridge Patrol!

You can help keep the fridge looking fresh and clean by signing up for a fridge cleaning shift. We provide the cleaning supplies onsite, you just show up, work your magic, and take a pic of your handiwork.

Sign up

3. Deliver food donations

Local businesses donate extra food they have, which needs to get picked up by a volunteer and delivered to the fridge. Sign up here to help out!

sign up

4. Sandwich Party

Sandwich Party! Make and bring 20 sandwiches to a fridge.

Sign up

FAQs

Nope! The Upper West Side fridge is open 24/7! That means that you can donate ANY time!
The fridge is open to all neighbors in need - no questions asked. Families, the elderly, and houseless neighbors are some of the incredible people who take what they need, when they need it.
We partnered with the NYCHA Holmes Towers residents association to make sure that the fridge is clean at all times.
And YOU can help out too - by signing up for a fridge patrol shift at any time that works for your schedule!

Time and time again, we see amazing neighbors taking only what they need for themselves and their family. And when we encountered folks who seem like they’re taking “too” much, we often learn that they’re taking for homebound people in their building, or for family members.
We’re lucky to have an amazing community of volunteers who work together to try and keep the community fridge filled. But the truth of the matter is that this community fridge is still more often empty than it is full! Since opening the fridge, we’ve never had an issue of a neighbor not being able to donate due to space constraints. And if that problem ever happens, it’ll be a good one to have!
There are ALWAYS more ways to help! We’d love your help spreading awareness to more community groups and canvassing local businesses for food donations! Just email info@grassrootsgrocery.org with your ideas and we’d love to partner with you to get this fridge more full more of the time!