The Coronavirus pandemic has revealed many cracks in our food system including issues of access, especially to already vulnerable populations such as children, the unemployed, sick and/or disabled persons, refugees, and senior citizens. According to NBC News, “looking after older AAPI people during the coronavirus outbreak can be a challenging endeavor. Already at high-risk for infection, many of them are also socially and linguistically isolated, which makes online and word-of-mouth outreach ineffective. The poverty rate among older AAPI people is also significantly higher than that of the general population.”

 Join a panel of experts including Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai of Heart of Dinner, activist and sommelier Vinny Eng, Steve Mei from the Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., and Jan Lee from the Hamilton Madison House for a conversation about how to tackle issues of food insecurity and feed our most vulnerable AAPI populations.

YIN CHANG

Yin Chang is the founder and creative director of the digital publication and podcast 88 Cups of Tea for storytellers looking for guidance and inspiration in their writing journey. With over half a million downloads, the podcast ranked top 15 in iTunes’ Literature & Arts category and was featured in iTunes’ top 20 podcasts showcasing Asian and Pacific American voices. In addition to championing and amplifying diverse voices in the entertainment world, her work as a short film producer and director garnered over 13MM views. As an actor, Yin can be seen in the leading role in “The Bling Ring”, Walt Disney’s theatrically released “Prom”, and three seasons of CW’s “Gossip Girl”, a TV show hailed by New York Magazine as, “The greatest teen drama of all time.” During Covid19, she co-founded Heart of Dinner, an emergency relief efforts providing meal assistance to the homebound elderly and underserved in the Asian immigrant community residing in New York. She has been featured in media outlets including E! News, NBC News, Variety, Vogue, Teen Vogue, Them, Seventeen, and more. 

VINNY ENG

Vinny Eng (He/Him) is a Community Organizer for SF New Deal, a rapid response Covid19 relief program connecting small food businesses with neighbors in need of meals. To date, SF New Deal has provided over 225,000 meals and over $2.5 million in immediate financial relief to local businesses. In addition to over a decade as a General Manager and Wine Director (Bar Tartine, Tartine Bakery, Tartine Manufactory) in San Francisco, he is also a mental health advocate organizing in support of community-based solutions for recovery and care. In 2019, Vinny was named a Food and Wine Magazine Sommelier of the Year. He is the American born son of Cambodian refugees.

JAN LEE

Jan Lee is a 3rd generation Chinatown resident and licensed general contractor. He also manages his family's tenement buildings on Mott St.

Jan began community organizing and activism over 25 years ago. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Hamilton-Madison House settlement house which serves the two bridges and Chinatown communities. In addition, he co-founded Neighbors United Below Canal which is organized to push back on the City's plan to build one of the largest jails in the world in Chinatown, while providing important research and news about the project, including the filing of a lawsuit against The City. Most recently, he has volunteered in a local food pantry and coordinates with other property owners to distribute free groceries to homebound low-income tenants in Chinatown.

STEVE MEI

Born in China, Steve Mei immigrated to New York with his parents in 1985 in search of better economic opportunities. He graduated from the State University at Buffalo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. Being the first in his family to attend and graduate from University, Steve felt pride as well as an obligation to do better for the family that gave up so much to provide for him.

Steve has worked with The Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. (CPC) for the past 18 years. In his role as Deputy Director of CPC’s Youth Services Division, he led, advocated and fought for services for young adults. Currently, Steve serves as the Director of CPC’s Brooklyn Community Services, advocating for lower income and immigrant communities in Sunset Park and throughout Brooklyn.

MOONLYNN TSAI

Moonlynn Tsai, a first-generation Taiwanese-American chef/restaurateur, is the co-founder of Heart of Dinner, an organization providing meal assistance for homebound elderly and underserved in the Asian immigrant community living in New York. Nothing lights her up more than bringing a restaurant start-up to life and has done so in the cities of San Jose where she helped to open the city’s first craft beer bar, Original Gravity, and Michelin Bib restaurant Pine & Crane in Los Angeles. After working in the Bay Area and LA restaurant scenes she moved to NYC in 2018, partnering with chef Kyo Pang as an investor and co-operator to invigorate the expansion of Kopitiam. The Lower East Side restaurant received a 2018 James Beard Semifinalist nomination, a 2018 critic pick from Pete Wells in The New York Times noting Kopitiam as “almost unfailingly terrific”, and was named Bon Appetit Magazine’s Hot Ten restaurant in 2019. Outside of Kopitiam, she works with select clients as a personal chef and enjoys perusing farmers’ markets in search of fun and unique ingredients to experiment with. She has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Them, Time, Fortune, Vice, Grub Street, and more.  

Support WELCOME TO CHINATOWN, an initiative collecting donations that will be used to purchase and deliver meals from New York City‘s Chinatown restaurants to essential workers.