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If dropping off locally (NYC)

  • Email us and let us know when you’re dropping off, and if you’d like to pick up more bags. 

  • Drop off times are available Wednesdays between 12pm-2pm

  • Located at Essex Market (NYC)

  • To find us at Essex Market, enter on Broome Street between Essex St & Norfolk St. Take the elevator or stairs up to the mezzanine floor

If mailing in

Please mail bags to:

Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai

130 Lafayette Street #32

New York, NY 10013

Illustrate Bags for Our Elderly

Pickup/dropoff location & mailing instructions

MANHATTAN

MAIL-IN INSTRUCTIONS

If you're not local to New York but would still love to participate and contribute decorated bags, please be sure the dimensions of the brown bags match our dimensions 10x5x13 inches or you can purchase them by clicking here. A batch of 50 completed decorated bags mailed to us by individual volunteers is incredibly helpful and needle-moving for us! 

Mail to:

Heart of Dinner

31 Howard Street

#406

New York, NY 10013

PICKUP/DROPOFF AT GORILLAS LOCATIONS

Address: Have a look below at the 17 different locations throughout NYC

Hours open: Open 7 days a week, 7am - 11pm

PICKUP INSTRUCTIONS

  • Upon entering the space, look for a box labeled with this sign. If you don’t see it by the entrance, ask for the store supervisor who can direct you.

  • Completed bags and note cards can be dropped directly into the bin.

  • If you want to order Kraft brown bags and art supplies while you’re at the store, open up the Gorillas app by clicking here and enter your address at the respective location. Please use the following codes that they are offering to our community to offset fees:

    • PICKUPSMALL - $5 off total on in-store pick-up orders under $15 (offsets applicable fees). See full list of store addresses below.

    • PICKUPFREE - offsets the delivery fee for in-store warehouse pick-up on orders over $15. See full list of store addresses below. 

    • HOD20 - $20 off your first delivery order over $30+ (cannot be combined with other offers).

  1. Bushwick @ 379 Suydam Street

  2. Downtown Brooklyn @ 299 Atlantic Ave

  3. Williamsburg @ 307 Grand

  4. Upper West Side @ 2681 Broadway

  5. Long Island City @ 12-03 Jackson Ave

  6. Lower East Side @ 294 Grand Street

  7. Harlem @ 149 E 125th Street (Will be open mid-August)

  8. Midtown South @ 20 West 37th Street

  9. Battery Park @ 90 West Street

  10. Flatbush @ 2811 Church Ave

  11. Upper East Side @ 1801 2nd Avenue

  12. Hudson Yards @ 547 West 27th Street

  13. Bedford Stuyvesant @ 1194 Fulton Street

  14. Park Slope @ 613 4th Avenue

  15. Astoria @ 25-34 Steinway Street

  16. Forest Hills @ 107-10 Queens Blvd

  17. Bay Ridge @ 8904 5th Avenue

Have a look at the map below and click here to access the google map of locations

BLACK SEED BAGELS - BUSHWICK 
Address: 379 Suydam Street, 11237 
Bag Drive Hours: Everyday 8AM-3PM 

LAND TO SEA - EAST WILLIAMSBURG
402 Graham Ave, 11211
Bag Drive Hours: Everyday 8AM-5:30PM
*Bags available to decorate in-store
 
MISSION NYC- BUSHWICK
599 Johnson Ave, 11237
Bag Drive Hours: Wed-Sun 5-10PM

TIGER PRAWN - WILLIAMSBURG

Address: 208 Grand Street, 11211 

Bag Drive Hours: Everyday 5-10PM 

DECORATING INSTRUCTIONS

The goal is to bring cheer to the Elderly recipients when seeing your decorated brown bags during our deliveries! For illustration inspiration from fellow contributors, click here.  Follow the instructions below:

DO'S: 

  1. Once you've picked up your brown bags and are ready to decorate at home, write "Heart of Dinner" and its Chinese translation "愛心餐" legibly, clearly, with large characters/letters in black/dark ink (refer to illustration.) Please be sure to use a black sharpie marker for this part! ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

  2. Please note that volunteers supply their own materials and supplies for the actual decoration. When illustrating and decorating around "Heart of Dinner 愛心餐", please use bright, vivid, cheerful colors. Tip: Some art supplies may not show up as vividly on our kraft brown bags. Below are recommendations from our volunteer community for art supplies that produce bright, vivid, intense, and bold colors on the kraft bags!  

  3. Be creative and draw/decorate images that are uplifting and recognizable. Examples: culturally thoughtful references, flowers, food, birds, etc. For exemplary samples of artwork that have deeply touched and moved our Elderly, click here and here and here.

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

  5. Be sure to drop off your decorated bags during operating hours of the participating location listed below (make sure to check their open hours.) 

  6. For mail-in for decorated bags, scroll to the bottom of the page.

​​​​

DON'T's: 

  1. Do not use markers or any art materials that do not show up clearly and bright on brown bags. If it is difficult to see the art work on the brown bags, we unfortunately will not be able to use the decorated bags. 

  2. Note for businesses, corporations, organizations, affiliations: do NOT add your brand, logo, or tagline on the Heart of Dinner bags. These care packages are not for marketing purposes and should only serve one purpose: carry out Heart of Dinner's mission to counter food insecurity and isolation through our care packages. Bags received with any branding, logos, taglines will NOT be used. 

  3. ​NO political messages, messaging, affiliation. Any hint of politics in the decorations and your bags will not be used. ​​​​

Decorated bags are needed on an ongoing basis.

PARTYBUS BAKESHOP PICKUP/DROPOFF

Address: 31 Essex Street, NY, NY 10002

Summer Hours: Closed Mon-Fri, Open Sat - Sun from 9AM-3PM

 

PICKUP INSTRUCTIONS

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 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. 

BLACK SEED BAGELS - BUSHWICK 
Address: 379 Suydam Street, Brooklyn 
Bag Drive Hours: Everyday  8AM-3PM 

LAND TO SEA - EAST WILLIAMSBURG
402 Graham Ave Brooklyn, NY 11211
Bag Drive Hours: Everyday 8AM-5:30PM
*Bags available to decorate in-store

 

MAISON DU TSURU- EAST WILLIAMSBURG
428 Humboldt St Front, Brooklyn, NY 11211-2419
Bag Drive Hours: Everyday 9AM-2PM
 
MISSION NYC- BUSHWICK
599 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn
Bag Drive Hours:
12/15-12/31 Wed- Sun 5:00-10:00pm

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!

GET INVOLVED

Help illustrate bags

Heart of Dinner is fiscally sponsored through Edward Charles Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

TAX ID 26-4245043

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