Nourishing New York: 40 Years of God's Love We Deliver

On a recent weekday, a kitchen in Tribeca hummed with the sounds of volunteers and employees working on their own separate projects but towards a shared goal. Upbeat music played from a small speaker. The rhythmic sound of knives rocking along a cutting board as they chopped through vegetables and the sizzle of browning meat occasionally punctuated the space, along with  as two people joked with one another about the latest baseball game.

These are the sounds of the kitchens ofGod’s Love We Deliver, a New York-based non-profit feeding medically tailored meals to homebound New Yorkers. Founded in 1985 s, this non-profit has fed medically tailored meals to some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers meals made with love, delivering weeks worth of meals to their homes with a smile, free of cost.

2025 is a milestone year for the company. Not only has it been around for 40 years, but this year alone they have delivered almost four million meals, preparing nearly 80,000 meals each week. Those meals are then enjoyed by over 15,000 New Yorkers who have chronic illnesses, along with their family members, who receive meals, as well. 

Stephen Covello knows firsthand the magic of preparing meals for others. 18 years ago he took on a volunteering shift at the organization, looking for a meaningful way to spend his time away from his day job in the financial sector. “I had heard about the organization and wanted to see what they were about.” The company’s mission holds a special place in his heart. “I had a sick mom and dad so I understood and recognized the importance of providing people with medically nutritious food,” he says

On his first shift he felt like he was home. “The work hit me on a core level,” he remembers. Covello came back to volunteer after work everyday for eight months straight. After eight months of volunteering a job opened up at the company and he quit his job in finance to join the team. Today, he is God’s Love We Deliver’s Chief Philanthropy Officer, overseeing partnerships that help support the core mission. “Food is everything: sustenance, energy, nutrition and also love,” he says.

That love is felt in every corner of the business and the offices. To ensure they’re able to provide meals, God’s Love relies on donations, sponsorships and people who are willing to spend some of their time helping to prep, cook, pack and deliver food. Volunteering here, providing for fellow community members, is a joy, as evidenced by the high return rate of folks who take on a shift. “I like to say that we’re the Pringles of non-profits,” says Emmet Findley, Director of Marketing & Communications for the non-profit. “People come back again and again to volunteer.

Volunteering is how Material Kitchen’s co-founder, Eunice Byun found her way into the God’s Love kitchen, finding the experience to be a powerful reminder of just how impactful a good meal can be when served and prepared with care. “There are so many touchpoints that make what they do so special,” she says. A simple birthday cake, frosted and bearing the recipient's name means so much, providing care to people who need it most. “That bit of joy and human connection is needed now more than ever.”

And it makes the people receiving the meal feel seen. So many of the clients they serve are at home, which can result in feeling isolated from others as they go about their day, but being able to provide meals and have that bit of contact can make all the difference, Byun says. “It’s a reminder that our community includes those that we don’t always see and feeding them is one of the most basic ways to heal and nourish.”

God’s Love We Deliver is gearing up for one of the busiest holidays for the company: Thanksgiving. Between now and the big day, over 12 thousands meals will be prepped and cooked to be delivered by volunteers at 5,600 households in all five New York City boroughs as well as Westchester County, Long Island and Bergen County, NJ.