“Take what you need and give what you can.” That’s the ethos behind free fridges around Pittsburgh — places where neighbors can donate or find fresh produce, prepared meals, and other essentials.
Locate a community fridge and more resources to support hungry neighbors below.
The Garden Café community fridge accepts groceries, shelf-stable items, and toiletries. Pre-packaged foods, fresh produce, eggs, and dairy products are always first to go. Prepared foods can be donated as long as they’re from a commercial kitchen and have all the ingredients listed. Find more guidance on The Garden Café’s website.
You can’t miss the rainbow-painted fridge and pantry behind the Millvale Community Library. The fridge accepts fresh and frozen items and often contains drop-offs from nearby restaurants. Support the fridge by donating food, buying items on their Amazon Wish List, or volunteering.
The free pantry and fridge — or “freedge” — is a grassroots effort to ease hunger on the North Side. Bring donations like produce, eggs, canned goods, and personal hygiene items to 1301 Davis Ave.
Second Harvest Community Thrift Store has a pantry and fridges outside the shop. See their list of accepted items, like non-perishable food, diapers, and juice. Frozen or refrigerated meals are accepted when sealed and labeled with the date and ingredients. You can also donate via their Amazon Wish List, or volunteer to fill the fridge for a week.
Find Second Harvest Community Thrift Store on Clay Street in Sharpsburg. (Francesca Dabecco / City Cast Pittsburgh)
Saint John Church operates a free fridge in partnership with Free Store 15106. Requested donations include frozen fruit and vegetables, eggs and dairy, frozen waffles, soup, and Uncrustable sandwiches. You can check out Free Store 15106’s Amazon Wish List here.
Fishes and Loaves Cooperative Ministries serves the Hazelwood, Glenwood, Glen Hazel, and Greenfield areas with group lunches, a food pantry on the first Saturday of each month, and a free fridge on the front porch. They also run a Meal on Wheels program to deliver meals to vulnerable residents every weekday.
Residents can find free food at a fridge at 609 6th St. Less than half a mile away, Free Store 15104 also provides clothes, household items, diapers and formula, and more. Support the fridge by donating via Venmo to the Braddock Youth Project.
Garden City United Methodist Church and Garden City Food Pantry partner to stock a community fridge. Groceries, prepared meals, and canned goods are available, in addition to personal care items. Donate food and personal hygiene items to the Garden City Food Pantry or volunteer to help with food pantry and food distribution days.
Start Your Own Free Fridge
Use this step-by-step guide to plan, budget, and launch a fridge in your neighborhood.
Millvale Free Fridge co-founder Nora Peters told City Cast Pittsburgh that free fridges are most successful when you collaborate with people already working with food in the area, like restaurant or market owners, who can advise on food safety and fill in donation gaps.
“No matter if we have money to go grocery shopping ourselves, there are people in the community that are supporting us,” Peters said.
