Heart of Dinner Nurtures a Sense of Comfort for AAPI Elders

Credit: Photo by Alex Lau courtesy of Heart of Dinner

Heart of Dinner, a nonprofit organization founded in New York City during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, delivers home-cooked meals to AAPI elders in order to address food insecurity and isolation.

We asked the founders, Yin Chang and Moonlyn Tsai about how they got started, what motivates them to keep going, and how others can get involved. Heart of Dinner is an official charity partner for the TCS New York City Marathon. Answers have been condensed and lightly edited.

Can you go into detail about how the idea came to be and what it was like at the beginning?

The catalyst of the Heart of Dinner mission came about after watching a video of a 68-year-old Chinese immigrant who was verbally and physically assaulted in San Francisco. The video showed him being hit with a metal bar while an onlooker shouted, "I hate Asians!"

The video left us heartbroken and feeling an immense amount of pain. We couldn't help but think of our own grandparents and elderly parents, as well as the elderly in our own neighborhoods in NYC where we live, near Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

This incident made us aware of the systemic inequities faced by Asian seniors in low-income immigrant communities and drove us to channel our mounting feelings of pain, grief, and fear into action that felt genuine and true to ourselves—to address the critical needs of our community that brought a sense of home, love, and dignity to seniors living in under-resourced and under-invested communities.

Why do you think it is so important for elders in the AAPI community to have home-cooked meals delivered to them?

For our elders, receiving care packages of fresh produce and hot lunchboxes featuring ingredients that are popular within Asian immigrant households nurtures a sense of comfort and familiarity that cannot be replicated. We believe that providing these meals is not only a way to address food insecurity, but also a way to honor and celebrate our elders and their cultures.

What are some of the dishes you deliver to the community?

Some examples of dishes that our restaurant partners have lovingly made include:

• Braised pork belly with eggs and a side of Bok choy over rice
• Purple rice congee cooked with yams, topped with tofu and steamed broccoli
• Chicken and ginger with soba noodles
• Tomato egg omelet with a side of eggplant over rice

We believe that addressing social isolation requires more than just delivering meals. Our handwritten notes are penned in our beneficiaries' mother tongue and our care packages are uniquely illustrated, all to uplift and enrich their emotional wellbeing. We recognize that our seniors are facing daily challenges of language, cultural, technological, and socioeconomic barriers that lead to loneliness and social isolation, which in turn leads to detrimental health concerns.

As much as we aim to provide nutritious senior-friendly foods that are culturally significant, we also aim to cultivate joy and dignity through social connection and words of love and cheerful artwork.

How do you identify the elders whom Heart of Dinner delivers meals/care packages to?

We identify the seniors we serve through a collaborative effort. We conduct our own outreach on the ground by checking in with seniors we see who may be collecting cans on the sidewalks, checking shelters for those who are displaced and fit the demographic that we serve. We also receive requests directly from the elderly or from their neighbors and we partner with existing social services organizations to onboard seniors in immediate dire need of our care packages.

We encourage NYC locals to check in on their own elderly Asian American neighbors and see if they've been able to get food on their own. Our goal is to provide not only nourishment but also social connection to seniors who may be experiencing loneliness and isolation, specifically those who are living alone and are homebound and are facing inequities.

How often do you deliver to them?

We deliver care packages once every week to our seniors on a continuing basis, tailoring each care package to their specific dietary needs of vegetarian, meat, or ‘super soft’ options that abide by our culturally meaningful ingredient guidelines. While our care packages are designed to last for 2-3 days, some recipients have shared that they have been able to make them last up to 4-5 days.

What has the response been from the seniors you serve and from the community?

The response we've received has been overwhelmingly positive and heartwarming. Our beneficiaries often share stories of how the meals we provide remind them of their childhood and bring back memories of home. They also appreciate the social connection that comes with each care package delivery, and some even keep the decorated bags to look at when they feel lonely. We're grateful for the support of donors, teams, volunteers, collaborators, and partners who believe in Heart of Dinner’s mission.

How can others get involved?

There are many ways for individuals to get involved with Heart of Dinner and we warmly welcome and encourage all to join us! Individuals and organizations can spread the word about the mission and the importance of supporting elders.

Additionally, those who are interested can donate to our organization, volunteer their time, or become a corporate partner. Heart of Dinner is always looking for support and welcomes anyone who wants to join in our mission and it’s best to find us on Instagram to keep tabs on our current high priority needs and requests.

Learn more about Heart of Dinner.