EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan — Whether it’s a locally loved burger day or one of their many West African dishes, EV Loves NYC is dedicated to feeding New York City.
“My job is something where, when you go home, you are so proud of what you did during the day because you are helping people,” says EV Loves NYC Operations Manager Diamy Bah. “It’s like a family now. Some of the people just come here to be a part of the community.”
EV Loves NYC, the EV short for its East Village home base, is a nonprofit organization building community for New Yorkers fighting food insecurity and advocating for long-term solutions through a variety of support services.
EV Loves NYC operates two separate programs. On Sundays, the community-commissary kitchen runs out of the Lower East Side Girls Club and provides between 2,000 and 2,500 meals. Monday through Friday, they operate a second program, Cafewal, which focuses on providing job training to members of the community. Specifically, they provide skills needed to work in restaurants, as well as long-term skills to find employment beyond the food industry.
“I think of New York as a sanctuary city. It was that way for me,” says Ann Shields, communications director at EV Loves NYC. “I was moving away from things as much as I was moving toward something, and I think that’s true for a lot of people. But, the city needs to be a more welcoming place.”
Which is exactly what EV Loves NYC has accomplished. Since their start in 2020, the organization has created a tight-knit community of New Yorkers, whether it’s regulars who return weekly or those who have just set foot in the city. All are welcome to enjoy food representative of a diversity of cultures.
In 2025, EV Loves NYC served over 150,000 nutrient-dense hot meals to food-insecure New Yorkers.
“Our current total since April 2020, when we were founded, is 675,000 hot meals served and over nine million pounds of groceries distributed to New York City households,” states EV Loves NYC Executive Director Tyler Hefferon.
Dining and Cooking