Our projects -

Our Projects

Sunday Community Kitchen

Our organization was founded in March 2020 when a group of friends started making meals in our own kitchens in response to the food insecurity we saw on the rise during COVID lockdown. We thought the problem would be better by now, but here we are, five years and 710,000 meals later, still cooking and speaking up for fairness and economic equality.

Every Sunday morning, our team of excellent and good-looking volunteers gathers to prep, cook, and package around 2,300 meals — meals that showcase fresh ingredients and are made from recipes that reflect NYC’s rich ethnic makeup. Our menus always include beef, chicken, and vegan options, as well as allergen-free and halal items.

In the afternoon, distribution partners from around the city begin to arrive and pickup boxes of our food to get out into underserved neighborhoods where the meals are shared with New Yorkers at community fridges, churches, mosques, tables set up in parks and outside shelters. Two thousand meals make their way into the hands of people most in need of some love and good food.

EVLovesNYC stands for food equality, community building, and kindness.

Cafewal

Cafewal, our weekday kitchen and community resource center, opened in October 2024. At Cafewal, the newest New Yorkers — recently arrived migrants, most of whom fled violent political upheaval in their home countries in French West Africa — come to eat, study English, learn real-life job skills, access health and legal referrals, get help with resume polishing, and with online job searches.

After arriving in the U.S. and applying for asylum and work authorization, new neighbors can often experience extreme insecurity and hopelessness while seeking full-time jobs, safe housing, and economic self-reliance. EVLovesNYC’s Cafewal project strives to replace that insecurity with community.

In the kitchen at Cafewal, successive cohorts of new neighbors participate in real-world food service training to prepare for employment. They plan, prepare, cook, and serve daily lunch for the community. Out in the common area, the Troubleshooters, trained interpreters (and our partners in Cafewal), aid individuals with navigating forms and applications, translate important documents, settle traffic tickets, hone CVs, apply for online jobs, and more. Over time, the Troubleshooters have established a robust, information-sharing network of lawyers, social service providers, medical professionals, training programs, and regular employers. Cafewal members can attend Know Your Rights workshops, sign up for Medicaid coverage, and participate in twice-monthly medical clinics.

Crucially, at Cafewal, we strive to provide a safe space for an embattled community, a place where they can feel respected and comfortable enough to enjoy a good meal, to ask for help, and to provide help to one another.

(Cafewal means “cafeteria” in the Fulani language.)