What evlovesnyc does

EVLovesNYC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit mutual aid organization founded in April 2020 in New York City in response to COVID-19-era food insecurity, incorporated as EVLoves LLC (EIN 85-1549014). It provides free hot meals to food-insecure New Yorkers and, since 2022, to arriving asylum seekers, operating seven commercial kitchens, distributing through more than 100 partner organizations, and running a weekday Cafewal kitchen and resource center anchored by a February 2026 partnership with the Lower East Side Girls Club. The organization has cumulatively served 791,175+ meals, processed 1,088,000 lbs of food, and logged 80,500 volunteer hours, with a separate Cafewal Workforce Training Program that has paid roughly $160,000 in wages to asylum seeker trainees and launched Ramadan Suhoor Breakfast Kits as a culturally specific offering.

The business model is donation-funded rather than commercial. EVLovesNYC has raised approximately $2.232 million from nearly 6,000 individual donors with no government funding, supplemented by merchandise collaborations with brands such as 7th St. Burger, the New York International Football Club, C&B Cafe, and Hungry Monk. The paid headcount is small (1-10 employees), while a 5,000+ volunteer base supplies the bulk of labor. There is no proprietary technology platform; the operating stack is kitchen logistics, volunteer coordination, and donor CRM supported by traditional nonprofit back-office functions. Visibility is reinforced by recurring coverage in the New York Times, Democracy NOW, Eater, Forbes, Saveur, ABC News, Food & Wine, and Gothamist, and by the Candid Silver Seal and a New York State Assembly Proclamation awarded in 2026.

Name

evlovesnyc

Legal name

EVLoves LLC

Website

https://evloves.nyc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

EVLovesNYC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit mutual aid organization founded in 2020 that provides free hot meals to food-insecure New Yorkers and asylum seekers across more than 100 partner sites, supported by ~$2.23M crowdfunded from individual donors and 5,000+ volunteers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food Insecurity Relief Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (624210), Community Food Services (62421)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD), Emergency Food Security & Nutrition in Humanitarian Crises (BPADAJAI)

Keywords

• Food insecurity relief
• Community meal service
• Culinary workforce training
• Mutual aid nonprofit
• Free meal distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

West New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Crowdfunded approximately $2,232,000 from nearly 6,000 individual donors since founding. None of this has come from government grants or contracts.
2. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded merchandise such as collaborative track jackets with 7th St. Burger and NY International Football Club.
3. Corporate Volunteering: Corporate teams volunteer with EVLovesNYC, providing volunteer labor support to the organization's operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

EVLovesNYC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit mutual aid organization that prepares and distributes free, nutrient-rich hot meals to food-insecure New Yorkers through seven commercial kitchens and a network of 100+ distribution partners across all five boroughs. It also operates Cafewal, a weekday kitchen and resource center, and a six-week paid culinary workforce training program that helps asylum seekers and migrants secure employment in the food service industry. All meals and training services are provided free of charge to recipients, funded primarily through individual donor crowdfunding.

Product overview

EVLovesNYC operates as a single-service nonprofit focused on combating food insecurity in New York City through meal distribution and workforce development. The core offering is Cafewal, a weekday kitchen and resource center that serves free daily lunch while housing the Cafewal Workforce Training Program—a six-week paid culinary training program for asylum seekers. The organization distributes hot meals through a network of 70+ distribution partners across NYC's five boroughs, and conducts seasonal programs like Ramadan suhoor breakfast kit distributions. Merchandise sales provide supplementary fundraising support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cafewal: A weekday kitchen and resource center providing free meals and workforce training for migrants and food-insecure New Yorkers.
• Cafewal Workforce Training Program

Products and services

• Cafewal Weekday kitchen and resource center that serves free daily lunch to the public and hosts the six-week Cafewal Workforce Training Program for asylum seekers and migrants.
• Cafewal Workforce Training Program Six-week paid culinary training program that teaches restaurant and food service skills to asylum seekers and migrants, with trainees paid W-2 wages and many transitioning into employment after completion.
• Free Meal Distribution Distribution of free hot meals to food-insecure New Yorkers across all five boroughs through partnerships with 70+ organizations, including churches, mosques, community fridges, parks, and shelters.
• Ramadan Suhoor Breakfast Kits Annual initiative assembling breakfast bags for Muslims fasting during Ramadan, containing water, electrolytes, fresh fruit, granola bars, and dates with walnuts, distributed through mosques and mutual aid partners.
• EVLovesNYC Merchandise Branded merchandise sold through the organization's Shopify store, including a collaborative track jacket with 7th St. Burger and NY International Football Club, used to support fundraising.

Quantifiable outcome

• Served 791,175 hot meals averaging one meal every 4 minutes 24/7 since April 2020
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Lower East Side Girls ClubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026Shared kitchen facility partnership since February 2026. EVLovesNYC's Sunday cook-a-thon and Monday-Friday Cafewal food-service training program now share one kitchen in the Girls Club's glorious facility. The partnership provides modern industrial kitchen amenities including stovetop, griddle, commercial pizza oven, and walk-in freezer. Organizations are collaborating on various community empowerment projects.
• 7th St. BurgerminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Collaborated on merchandise - specifically a warmup track jacket collaboration with NY International Football Club and EVLovesNYC. 7th St. Burger is described as a big supporter of the organization.
• NY International Football ClubminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Collaborated on merchandise - specifically a warmup track jacket collaboration with 7th St. Burger and EVLovesNYC. Forbes coverage of the soccer community 5k For Davide event that helped feed asylum seekers.
• C&B CafecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAli Sahin from C&B Cafe on East 7th Street originally gave EVLovesNYC the keys to his kitchen to use in the evenings when the cafe was closed. This enabled the organization to make 600 meals on their first day in Queens during the pandemic. C&B Cafe and Cafewal maintain ongoing partnership.
• Hungry Monk (Queens)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFather Mike at Hungry Monk made the original call alerting EVLovesNYC to the food crisis in Queens during the pandemic. This phone call initiated the organization's founding response. EVLovesNYC initially raised money for and cooked meals for distribution through Hungry Monk.
• 100+ Distribution PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 100 distribution partners across NYC including churches, mosques, community fridges, and community organizations that pick up food from EVLovesNYC and distribute to underserved neighborhoods. Partners span from the Bronx to Brownsville.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• West Side Campaign Against Hunger: West Side Campaign Against Hunger is a NYC-based food pantry and emergency food provider serving food-insecure residents through choice-based pantries and community programs; a direct peer operating the same food assistance mission within NYC.
• City Harvest: City Harvest is NYC's largest food rescue organization that collects surplus food and delivers it free to communities in need — directly comparable to EVLovesNYC on the dimensions of free food distribution to food-insecure New Yorkers and a partner-network distribution model.
• Food Bank for New York City: Food Bank for NYC is the city's primary hunger-relief organization, sourcing and distributing food through a network of pantries and soup kitchens across the five boroughs — a direct peer in NYC food assistance, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• Project Renewal: Project Renewal runs culinary workforce training programs (e.g., the Cooking for Life program) alongside services for homeless and low-income New Yorkers; directly comparable to EVLovesNYC's Cafewal model combining paid culinary training with food distribution.
• God's Love We Deliver: God's Love We Deliver cooks and home-delivers medically tailored meals to New Yorkers living with serious illness; it is comparable to EVLovesNYC as a NYC-based nonprofit meal provider using a volunteer-supported kitchen model and serving vulnerable populations.

Broad incumbents

• World Central Kitchen: World Central Kitchen is a larger, globally recognized nonprofit that provides meals in disaster and humanitarian crisis settings using a volunteer-powered kitchen model; broadly comparable to EVLovesNYC on the volunteer-driven emergency feeding approach, though at global scale.
• Coalition for the Homeless: Coalition for the Homeless is one of NYC's oldest and largest homelessness services organizations, running shelters, food programs, and advocacy; it is a broad incumbent that overlaps with EVLovesNYC on feeding and supporting unhoused and low-income New Yorkers.
• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York: Catholic Charities of NY is a large, multi-service nonprofit operating food pantries, shelters, and immigrant services across NYC; broadly comparable to EVLovesNYC as a NYC social-services nonprofit serving food-insecure and migrant populations.

Others

• Hunger Free America: Hunger Free America is a national anti-hunger policy and advocacy organization that combines direct service with systems change; comparable to EVLovesNYC thematically on the food-insecurity mission, though primarily focused on advocacy rather than direct meal preparation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/evlovesnyc
• Instagraminstagram.com/evlovesnyc
• Facebookfacebook.com/evlovesnyc
• TikToktiktok.com/@evlovesnyc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/evlovesnyc

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about evlovesnyc