Our History

Officially named University Community Social Services, The Meatloaf Kitchen was founded in 1982 by two professors who saw a great need among the many homeless people in their Greenwich Village neighborhood. Together they started a temporary — or so they thought — soup kitchen open to anyone who needed sustenance.

Over 40 years later, we’re still going strong, and the need is still great. Long ago, we figured out that meatloaf is a nourishing comfort food that makes a much better meal than soup. We make ours using an original recipe that we have perfected over the years. Our guests and volunteers love it, and we have over time come to be known as The Meatloaf Kitchen.

While our corporate name refers to our origin at New York University, we are not affiliated with any school or religious organization. Our volunteers come from all walks of life, bound together only by our shared desire to lend a helping hand to those in need.

Hunger doesn't take a vacation. Every single week without fail since our inception, through blackouts, heat waves, blizzards, hurricanes, the terrorist attack of 9-11, and even the COVID-19 pandemic, The Meatloaf Kitchen has been there, serving hundreds of thousands of meals to New Yorkers.

Andrej Kodjak, who co-founded the Meatloaf Kitchen with Lorry Wynne in 1982, prepares the meal during our first month of operation.