One of the most unique things about Second Chance Foods is The Kitchen! Our commercial kitchen is vital to our food recovery and hunger relief efforts. By cooking multiple times a week with recovered food, we significantly reduce food waste—but our meals are so much more. For individuals and families experiencing food insecurity, mealtime can often feel uncertain or difficult. That’s why we provide more than just nourishment—our delicious, thoughtfully prepared restaurant-quality meals offer comfort, dignity, and stability during challenging times.
When we say restaurant-quality meals, we mean it! Our recipes are inspired by trusted sources like New York Times Cooking, Cooks Illustrated, and Food Network. We focus on creating healthy, nutritious meals using high-quality ingredients. Our volunteers carefully chop, sauté, season, taste, and package every meal as if they were feeding their own families. Every meal is prepared with thoughtfulness, care, and respect for those who will enjoy it—because everyone deserves a delicious meal.
Sign up for our weekly emails to get the latest news, stories, volunteer opportunities, impact, recipes and more! To kick things off you’ll receive our recipe for Roasted Carrot Soup—the first meal we ever made in the kitchen.
That’s why, in 2022, we partnered with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam (CCEP) to stock freezers with easy-to-access, nourishing, and delicious grab-and-go meals made fresh in The Kitchen. This innovative program began as a way to increase health in older adults and was piloted at Putnam County senior centers but has rapidly evolved into a critical community service. Ensuring food is available where older adults gather and have scheduled transportation removes multiple barriers to access.
However, hunger and the obstacles to accessing relief affect individuals of all ages. That’s why we’re continually expanding our ready-to-eat meals and freezers to libraries and other community locations. We’re making it easier for anyone in need to access freezers filled with our nourishing meals—no complicated forms, no income verification, just access to good food.
While the county is known for its affluence, many residents quietly struggle with food insecurity, especially seniors, families, and those living with disabilities. That’s why starting in 2025, we’re growing our presence in Westchester through new partnerships and establishing community freezers that increase access. This expansion ensures that nutritious, ready-to-eat meals reach those who need them most.
Our kitchen is committed to being flexible, resourceful, and creative in response to the ever-changing food donations from our partners. Each day presents a new challenge—from receiving 1,000 pounds of fully-ripe peaches that need immediate processing to over 1,200 pounds of pre-cut squash from a local seed company after they finished harvesting seeds. No matter what comes through our door, our goal remains the same: to create delicious, restaurant-quality meals made with care and consideration for the community.
We always prioritize cooking with ingredients that may spoil sooner, but we also work to reduce additional waste in our kitchen by staying creative! That means substituting and adding ingredients for what we have on hand and getting creative with our scraps. For example, we love to make broth or stock and are known for packing as many mixed vegetables as possible into a dish.
How many people are helping? What is their skill level and age? We love new volunteers and don’t want them to have a stressful experience, so sometimes, we adjust the meals based on who and how many people will be making it. Some meals involve a lot of prep, so the more hands helping peel, chop, and slice, the more complex meals we can create.
Who we are cooking for is incredibly important and drives our work. Are we cooking for younger kids or older adults? What tools do they have at home to reheat meals, or are they living in temporary housing, motels, or on the street? In the heat of summer, we made sure our recipients could reheat the meals we distributed in a microwave without heating their whole house. Each partnership is also different and influences how meals are prepared. Some meals need to be frozen as individual portions, other partnerships need family-style trays that will be reheated in an oven. And while we have our favorite recipes that are highly adaptable to the ingredients of the day, we also enjoy trying new recipes. Variety in our meals ensures our recipients enjoy a diverse diet that nurtures both their health and happiness!
The kitchen also has to be flexible and creative when it comes to the time we have to cook. That includes utilizing our equipment wisely. Our volunteers might use one of our six-burner stoves, 10-rack ovens, multiple electric pressure cookers, induction burners, rice cookers, and food dehydrators all in one day!
Unfortunately, food waste happens at every level of the food supply chain. With an estimated 40% of usable food going into a landfill, we know there is enough food available—and that’s where our Food Rescue Hub fills the gap! We connect nourishing food with those in need by focusing on rescuing usable surplus from grocery stores, retail markets, wholesalers, and local farms. Then we use our extensive cold storage system to keep food fresh and connect it with the community.
In coordination and collaboration with The Kitchen, these efforts reduce food waste and increase access to healthy food options for those in need.
Though we wish we could supply food to everyone in need, Second Chance Foods cannot provide meals or groceries directly to individuals. Our solution is to collaborate with existing programs in the community and supplement their food with our meals and groceries. If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please refer to our resource page here for our partnerships and local options.
120 Marvin Ave
Brewster, NY 10509
Volunteer Questions contact Volunteer Coordinator Melissa Paladino 845-723-1309
For all other questions please contact us at 845-723-1315
