GET INVOLVED

Help illustrate bags

Decorated bags and handwritten notes are a core part of how we care for our Elders at Heart of Dinner. Each one becomes a visible reminder that someone took time to think of them, celebrate them, and show up with love.

Through our weekly care packages, we reach Asian American older adults living alone in significantly under-resourced communities. Alongside culturally thoughtful food, your artwork and words help nourish emotional well-being and ease loneliness week after week.

Today, decorated bags support two active efforts:

Our ongoing NYC program, delivering over 800 care packages every week
Time-limited emergency relief, when Elders face sudden disruption, displacement, or loss

A WARM WELCOME TO HEART OF DINNER'S DECORATED BAG PROJECT!

A decorated bag is part of Heart of Dinner's holistic care package model that nourishes both body and heart. Our Elders often save these bags, displaying them in their homes or cutting out drawings and messages to keep nearby on days when they feel alone. And finding comfort in knowing someone cared enough to create something just for them.

We've been refining our guidelines since 2020 based on what we've learned from our Elders: what brings them comfort, what makes them smile, what they choose to keep close. Your attention to these details is what transforms a decorated bag into a bridge of connection across generations, languages, and lived experiences.

WHY DECORATED BAGS MATTER

CHOOSE YOUR PATH TO CONTRIBUTE

Heart of Dinner offers different ways to contribute decorated bags based on your situation. Please choose the path that best matches you so we can support your participation thoughtfully and efficiently.

INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTEER
(for personal or community-led participation)

This path is for individuals, families, and small community groups who want to decorate bags or write notes for our Elders.

You may work on your own or gather friends, classmates, or neighbors to contribute together.

Access the Individual Community Guide
Heart of Dinner Decorated Bag Project Toolkit
Click here to access

CORPORATE GROUPS
(for workplace engagement and team activities)

Looking to organize a bag decorating event at your workplace? Reach out to us at this email using your work email address to access Heart of Dinner's Corporate Decorated Bag Project Toolkit. This toolkit is tailored for our corporate allies and includes comprehensive instructions specifically designed to align with the needs and setup of corporate/business environments.

STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
(for service hour verification requirements)

IMPORTANT SEASONAL NOTICE (Dec 1, 2025 - Feb 28, 2026)

We’re in peak operations right now, and our small team is focused on keeping weekly nourishment steady for Elders. During this window, we are not accepting new student volunteer onboarding for service hour verification. Please note that we do not approve retroactive hours.

Finished with your decorated bag & ready to submit?

Thank you for taking the time to create something with so much care. Your decorated bag will soon become part of a weekly care package that reminds an Elder they are seen, loved, and held by community.

We offer two ways to submit your completed bags or notes: by mail or by local NYC drop-off. Please scroll below to choose the option that works best for you, and take a moment to review the step-by-step instructions before mailing or dropping off your work.

How to mail-in completed bags

NYC WEEKLY OPERATIONS + EMERGENCY SNAP RELIEF (ONGOING WEEKLY)

STEP 1: Complete the submission slip and include it in your package.

STEP 2: Write “Heart of Dinner Notes” on the outside of your package.

STEP 3: Mail to the below address and please note that this address is for mail-in only. No visits or drop offs.

Heart of Dinner
31 Howard Street
Unit #404
New York, NY 10013

LA WILDFIRE EMERGENCY RELIEF (JAN-SEP '25)

STEP 1: Complete the submission slip and include it in your package. Questions about LA relief effort notes? Email us here

STEP 2: Mark packages "Heart of Dinner Emergency Relief Notes"

STEP 3: Mail to the below address and please note that this address is for mail-in only. No visits or drop offs.

Heart of Dinner

2020 Columbia Street

#286

San Diego, CA 92101

How to drop off completed bags in NYC?

Before you drop off

Please take care of all preparation before arriving at Partybus Bakeshop—this includes completing your submission slip, batching your bags, and finalizing your count. Walk in ready for a quick handoff with your completed slip visible alongside your contributions.

Complete the submission slip by clicking here.

HOURS

Drop off hours follow Partybus Bakeshop’s operating hours. Please check Partybus Bakeshop’s Instagram bio for current drop off hours. Hours may change week to week.

LOCATION

31 Essex Street

New York, NY 10002

When you arrive at Partybus Bakeshop

Partybus Bakeshop is a bustling, beloved bakery serving customers throughout the day. They've generously opened their doors to serve as our NYC drop-off partner—a gift that makes it possible for neighbors to contribute decorated bags and handwritten notes to our Elders.

To honor this partnership and keep things running smoothly, we kindly ask that you:

If there's a line of customers, please join it and wait for your turn
Gently let a staff member know you're dropping off Heart of Dinner bags and/or notes
Hand off your items and submission slip directly to them

Partybus has been with us since the very beginning of our journey, and their support means the world to us. Thank you for treating our partners with the same care and thoughtfulness you've poured into your contributions for our Elders.

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

If you have the ability to, we encourage you to support Partybus Bakeshop while visiting. We created a special scallion bun together to nourish our Elders. When purchased at the bakery, 10% of scallion bun sales support Heart of Dinner’s mission.

What happens after the Holiday Bag Drive ends?

Need more time to complete your bags and drop them off after February 15, 2022? Take your time! Or if you had a wonderful time completing your decorated bags during our Lunar New Year Bag Drive and would love to decorate our bags again? Please stop by our ongoing brown bag outpost at Partybus Bakeshop. We are always in need of ongoing decorated brown bags to pack our meals with!

PARTYBUS BAKESHOP

Address: 31 Essex Street, NY, NY 10002

Hours open: Tue - Sun from 9AM-4PM
Closed Mondays

PICKUP INSTRUCTIONS

Our need for thoughtfully decorated bags are on an ONGOING basis. There is no need to schedule your pickup so please just walk into Partybus Bakeshop ANY TIME during their open hours and say hello to the incredible Partybus Bakeshop team, let them know you’re there to pick up Heart of Dinner bags to decorate. The pickup at this location works a little differently. The team will pass you a batch of 50 brown bags + a stack of 50 handwritten notes to bring home with you. When you're home and ready to decorate, first staple a note to the front of the brown bag (refer to the illustration at the very top of this page). Then follow the step-by-step decoration instructions above.

If you're not local to NYC but would still love to contribute, please click here to read directions on writing & decorating notes instead. We are ALWAYS in need of handwritten notes to attach to the decorated bags!

If you are local to NYC and would love to help us pack our care packages and/or deliver them directly to our Elderly, visit this page and fill out our volunteer application.

A tremendous thank you for your generosity and your time. We deeply appreciate you, and can't wait to see what you'll create!