New York City Non-Profit Delivers Food – And Lots of Love – To Immigrant Asian Elders

What began as a dinner for a group of friends is now a volunteer-led non-profit that tackles food insecurity by helping feed hundreds of Asian elders, many of them immigrants, across New York City. In the process, Heart of Dinner also boosts the local economy by partnering with local businesses, including grocers and farms, in the area.

Civil Eats reports that Heart of Dinner’s roots stretch back a decade and across the country to L.A., where Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai hosted group dinners at their home. “Admission to these dinners was free, but guests were invited to leave donations in a large urn on the table, with proceeds going to No Kid Hungry, a child hunger campaign that supports school and community meal programs.”

In 2018, the couple moved to New York City, and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years later, they were distraught at the wave of hate crimes targeting AAPI community members. “According to the Stop AAPI Hate Center, nearly 1900 hate crimes against Asian Americans were reported by victims, and around 69% of cases were related to verbal harassment, including being called the ‘Chinese Coronavirus,’” Sage Journals said in 2022.

“After a period of feeling helpless, they sprang into action to mobilize support for the elderly Asian community,” Civil Eats continued. That planted the seed for Heart of Dinner, which became an official non-profit in late 2020.

As the Heart of Dinner website notes, the effort also seeks to tackle loneliness and isolation felt by many seniors. Volunteers carry that in their hearts as they meet weekly to help pack gift bags loaded with fresh produce, healthy meals, and notes personalized with a lot of love. Civil Eats continues:

The notes included simple wishes for health and prosperity written in each recipient’s native language—in many cases, messages one would expect a grandparent to give, not receive: “Make sure you drink water” or “Please eat well today.” Two of the bags had notes written in Thai; other Heart of Dinner sites also prepare notes in Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog.

The volunteers at the East Harlem site came from all walks of life: college students, bartenders, musicians, physician assistants, and retirees. After loading the care packages into large stroller wagons, the team divided into small groups, traversing the neighborhood’s intricate web of public housing developments by foot.

The volunteers warmly greeted each elder at the door, wearing masks as a precautionary measure, and presented the bags respectfully with two hands. They inquired with genuine concern about each person’s health, as a grandchild would. Most conversations were brief but cordial and ended with gentle bows and exchanges of “xiè xie” (“thank you” in Mandarin) with the many Chinese recipients who live in the area.

In addition to providing nourishment to community members and letting them know that someone cares, Heart of Dinner is also good for the local economy, Civil Eats continued. “Pei Wei, the co-owner of Zaab Zaab, a Thai restaurant in Williamsburg, has supported Heart of Dinner since the pandemic, and her kitchen staff continues to supply over 100 hot meals every week for the Brooklyn delivery site.” Just as in the preparation of gift bags and subsequent delivery, a lot of care goes into the food preparation as well.

Wei told Civil Eats that she instructs her kitchen “to cook the vegetables a little longer so it’s softer for people who have sensitive teeth,” she said, “or to chop the meat into smaller pieces so it’s easier to digest.” Heart of Dinner also partners with local farmers like Choy Commons to supply healthy veggies for their clients. It’s also yet another reminder that from an organic collective in the Catskills to Florida’s famed citrus orchards to California’s dairy farms, farmworkers are the heroes who feed us all.

And, these farmworkers are part of the fabric of our nation. Roughly 2.4 million farmworkers across the country feed us, keep food shelves stocked, and keep the agricultural industry running. At least half are undocumented, meaning that immigration policy is an issue that affects everyone. In agriculture-rich states like California, as many as 75% of farmworkers may lack legal immigration status. Many are contributors, have U.S. citizen children, and have called this country their home for a decade or more.

In dairy states like California, Idaho, Utah, Vermont, South Dakota and Wisconsin, immigrant workers are largely responsible for producing the fresh milk, delicious cheeses, and other dairy products that are enjoyed by Americans all over the country. And before Florida’s citrus industry was affected by hurricanes and other environmental factors, no matter where in the U.S. you were eating an orange, the overwhelming likelihood was harvested by a farmworker in the state. And, for some seniors in New York City, their baby Shanghai bok choy and hakurei turnips are lovingly harvested by hands who know that this produce is doing so much more than just feeding them.

Heart of Dinner’s story has been highlighted in prominent outlets like Fortune, Vice, and Glamour, according to the organization’s website. Read more about this great project here.