Heart of Dinner works to counter food insecurity and isolation experienced by Asian American seniors—two long-standing community issues heightened by the pandemic and was founded at the onset of COVID-19 by partners in life and love, Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai. As the pandemic hit, their late-night conversations about the global impact of COVID-19 and the heightened racism towards Asian Americans soon became questions around how to create positive change. The two have taken different paths in their respective lives and careers to reach the same goal: joyfully centering and uplifting people and communities. Shortly after, Yin and Moonlynn united their mutual loves of language and food to birth Heart of Dinner’s relief efforts. On April 1st 2020, the duo cooked the first-ever Heart of Dinner hot lunches paired with handwritten notes of encouragement for those most vulnerable around Manhattan's Chinatown area, with a focus on homebound elders. Then with the help of a growing community, Heart of Dinner has been able to expand its reach throughout NYC. In the months since, their volunteer network has gone national, and with the support from donors, in-kind donors, distribution partners, restaurant partners, and volunteers, the love-powered initiative is on track to deliver a quarter of a million meals and messages to the community; and have provided 100,000 meals in January 2022. The organization has been lauded by Time, Vogue, NBC and ABC News, Ellen, WSJ and Fortune, and they’ve been named Glamour Women of the Year. Heart of Dinner is fiscally sponsored through Edward Charles Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, tax ID 26-4245043. Help us hit our ambitious goal to provide 250,000 meals to our senior community with a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor.
