You cook dinner. Your neighbor cooks dinner. You swap.
That's it. Both households eat a homemade meal they didn't have to plan.
We built a platform around this idea — matching neighbors within communities they already belong to, handling the logistics, and getting out of the way.
Not a meal kit — transactional and impersonal. Not a meal train — a temporary stopgap for emergencies. Just two people who already live near each other deciding to share what they're already making.
It's called Second Helpings (you might have known us as Potluck). "Potluck" described the spirit but "Second Helpings" describes the act.
We're in Philadelphia and we're growing. Come help yourself to some seconds.
#SecondHelpings #PhillyStartup #MealSwap #CommunityBuilding #FoodTech #Philadelphia #CookOnce #NeighborsHelpingNeighbors
The @happinessrpt found that how often you share meals predicts life satisfaction almost as strongly as income.
But here's the thing — most of us aren't sharing meals with people outside our own household. Not because we don't want to. Because there's no infrastructure for it.
One of our pilot participants wrote about this experience for @ediblephilly . She swapped homemade meals with a stranger for two months — and walked away with a real friendship.
Ellen and Adel were strangers when they started. That was the nature of our early pilot with @bindingagentsphilly . But here's what their experience taught us: the meals weren't the hard part. The trust was. And trust came faster because they were already part of the same community — even if they hadn't met yet.
That insight shaped how Second Helpings (formerly Potluck) works today. We don't match you with strangers. We match you within communities you already belong to — your school, your neighborhood, your faith group — so you're starting from a foundation of shared trust, not a leap of faith.
Ellen was nervous at first: "What if they made something way better than me?" Adel's take: "We were both just making ourselves something we're going to eat anyway and then making an extra portion. It was so low pressure."
The pilot ended. The friendship didn't. And the model got better because of what they showed us.
Read Ellen's full essay — link in bio.
#SecondHelpings #EdiblePhilly #MealSwap #Philadelphia #BindingAgents #GetMoreThanSecondsBack #DinnerTastesBetterWhenItsShared
Philadelphia is hungry for connection. And we're here to feed it — literally.
Last weekend we had the honor of debuting the new Second Helpings brand at the Philly Activities Fair, hosted by @joinphilly at @phillyethics , and sharing a table with our pilot partner @bindingagents .
The organizers expected about 1,000 people. 2,300 showed up. More than double. On a Saturday. To find clubs, communities, and ways to connect with each other in real life.
People weren't scrolling or browsing. They were stopping, asking questions, and signing up. We barely sat down all day (despite the photo of me sitting down!!!). We didn't break for lunch. There was a constant stream of people at our table wanting to talk about what it means to actually share dinner with your neighbors — not as a concept, but as a real, regular thing.
I overheard someone walking by say to their friend, "I had no idea Philly had so many clubs and activities!" — and I think that captures exactly what Brian's team at @joinphilly built with this event. A room full of people discovering that the community they've been looking for already exists. They just needed a way to find it.
📸 Photos courtesy of Join Philly
"Real life is not handing you Sunday supper energy on a Tuesday night."
That line came out of me on the Marketing With Empathy podcast with @iamsarahpanus and I think it might be the most honest thing I've said about why I'm building Potluck.
Because the dinner problem isn't about not knowing how to cook. It's three invisible jobs stacked on top of each other — what are we making, do we have everything, who's doing it — every single night.
Meal kits don't solve that. Delivery doesn't solve that. What does? Other people.
One of my favorite moments from the conversation was recalling when a pilot participant told me her kids were more willing to try new food because it wasn't coming from her. I didn't set out to solve picky eating. But when you change who made the meal, you have the power to change the whole dynamic at the table.
I know it's a sin to put a link in an Instagram caption but here it is anyway:
/marketing-with-empathy/163-how-startup-potluck-reimages-dinner-for-moms-shannon-amspacher/
Today’s reminder that community care is alive and well 💛
Saw this in my local Buy Nothing group last year and had to share:
A neighbor had extra mashed potatoes + corn casserole — freshly made, still warm — and offered them to anyone who needed a little help finishing their Thanksgiving meal.
No trade. No judgment. Just… kindness.
This is the heart of why I’m building @joinpotluck.app — because sharing what we have, lightening each other’s load, and showing up in small, practical ways is how communities grow stronger.
If you’ve ever wished dinner could feel less lonely, less overwhelming, or less like something you have to do all on your own — this is your sign that another way is possible. 🥣✨
#CommunityCare #BuyNothing #Potluck #MentalLoad #CareEconomy #NeighborlyLove
Your Thanksgiving reminder...
Food is for everyone. Meal planning is for everyone. Meal preparation is for everyone.
Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody do your share.
Food is about community. Let’s remember to treat it like the communal act that it is, and recognize the communal labor that it requires.
#Food #Community #Thanksgiving #Labor #JoinThePotluck
These people are at the heart of our pilot with @bindingagents and it was such a joy to spend a few hours this weekend seeing how new friendships have been formed, how new swaps have developed and the excitement for what’s to come as we launch the tech to make the whole process of meal swapping easier and more collaborative for the community.
Swipe to see a meal swap in action with an animated Ezra telling us about his dish he made for Monica! 🍲 It was also such a treat to see @jopiazzaauthor at the pop-up book sale while we were there!! #JoinThePotluck #MealSwaps #CommunityCare
Freezer meals feel like love letters to your future self.
Yesterday, my son and I were both sick. My partner’s hanging onto his immunity by a thread. None of us were up for cooking—but I knew chicken noodle soup was exactly what we needed.
And while I would’ve loved a neighbor or friend to drop off dinner, I know the vulnerability of asking for help all too well. That feeling of not wanting to be a burden.
Thankfully, past me had my back.
I’d prepped a freezer meal of just that soup—ready to dump, add broth, and toss in noodles right before serving.
Because when you’re a working parent, there are days when “what’s for dinner” feels like the final straw.
You want to take care of everyone, but you’re running on fumes yourself.
That’s the space Potluck is being built for.
Not just to make meal prep easier, but to make ASKING for support easier—especially in the hard seasons.
We’re building a Community Support called Difficult Seasons.
It lets your community quietly step in when life gets heavy—
a new baby, a family illness, a big work deadline—and coordinate meals, help, or even small check-ins.
Because community shouldn’t disappear when things get hard.
It should rise up around you.
And sometimes, that starts with something as simple as a pot of chicken noodle soup.
🥣
If you’ve ever wished it were easier to both give and receive care, I’d love to know—
what’s one small gesture that’s meant a lot to you during a difficult season?
Behind every early-stage ask is a human trying to make life better for someone else.
When a founder says “Can we chat?”,
what they’re really saying is “Can I learn from you?”
That conversation — your honest perspective — could help shape what gets built next.
Would you talk to a founder if you knew your feedback could change their company’s future?
#founders #careeconomy #workingparents #buildinpublic #communitybuilding #womeninbusiness
I swear I’m not trying to be a food influencer 😂 which is why my camera angles are probably breaking all the rules. Welcome to my real-life, messy kitchen and very imperfect food vlogging.
Here’s the point: I want to spend less time cooking and still have meals that feel special. These egg bites are my weekly go-to for easy breakfasts. Same base mixture every time, but the toppings/fillings rotate depending on what’s in my fridge.
The best part? I’ve perfected the recipe so it always makes exactly two dozen — enough to last us the whole week. It takes me about 20 minutes to prep, then I get a glorious 25 minutes to relax while they bake.
My all-time fave combo: smoked salmon, goat cheese, and shallots (scallions work too). But I’ve also done tomato-feta, broccoli cheddar, spinach-artichoke…you name it.
👉 What flavor combo would you add to yours?
This weekend we celebrated one of my dearest friends, who is about to welcome her second baby. And instead of baby gear, I focused on what I wish I had more of in those early postpartum weeks: quick, shelf-stable meals.
Because when you’re running on no sleep, the best gift isn’t the latest baby gadget… it’s knowing dinner is already handled. 💛
I stocked her up with: soups and chilis 🍲, beans and grains 🍚, protein-packed snacks 🥜, simmer sauces 🍛, and easy breakfast staples.
It’s not fancy, but it’s nourishing, practical, and one less decision she has to make.
🫶 What’s the best way you’ve shown up for a friend in their season of need?
✨ Kicked off our fall pilot with @bindingagents this Sunday and wow — the vibes were magical.
🍎 Nametags + fun food stickers
🥖 Snacks + drinks
📚 Cookbooks to browse
🤝 Connections made
We even had our first swap happen during the mixer!! 🙌
So excited to keep building this community in Philly over the next several weeks.
Want to join Potluck — or host a pilot in your own neighborhood? Introductory access + pricing for our tech is coming later this fall!
👉 Sign up for all updates at the link in our bio or to host a potluck: https://www.joinpotluck.app/host-a-potluck
