Nico Feeds his Neighbors

When Nico Navab was in high school, he spent a summer volunteering to deliver food to seniors who were unable to leave their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While making his usual deliveries of shelf-stable items like canned vegetables, he wondered if there was a way to include fresh baked goods as part of his deliveries. This inspired him, while still in high school, to create BakeNYC, a program that brings food from local bakeries to people in need.  

“Bread is a staple of life and an important part of fighting food insecurity,” Nico shared. “But it is also a part of how different cultures come together and celebrate. I wanted to honor the city’s cultural diversity.”  

Both faith and culture played a huge role for Nico, whose ancestry is half Greek and half Persian. One side of his family fled the Iranian revolution and grew up in New York City as immigrants. He wanted to honor immigrants and their culture as a part of what he was doing.   

He grew up seeing food and community service as intertwined, having packed food at New York Common Pantry and later preparing dinner for NCS residents as part of Brick Church’s Wednesday Night Dinner Program.  

These experiences also helped form BakeNYC’s volunteer delivery staff.  

“I grew up at Brick Church. My friends are also members there and that’s who offered to help me with this new endeavor.”  

In Nico’s search for bakeries, he wanted to make sure to include stores that would cater to different audiences and celebrate their cultures. He picks up challahs at a kosher bakery and delivers them to Holocaust survivors and traditional Greek pastries that go to a Greek church for their members in need. BakeNYC also delivers to a non-profit organization helping Latino children in Harlem and a Muslim Community Center in Brooklyn. 

BakeNYC has also regularly donated baked goods to Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter for the past few years!  

The pastries we receive at our programs are delicious, but they do even more than ease hunger. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our formerly homeless residents struggled with loneliness and isolation,” NCS CEO Ann Shalof shared. “These donations reminded them that they have a community that cares, remembers them, and is there for them. We are so fortunate to be a recipient of BakeNYC’s generosity.”  

Since starting BakeNYC in 2020, Nico has graduated from high school and is currently studying in Madrid, Spain. But BakeNYC’s operations have continued, still delivering baked goods to Met Council, Association to Benefit Children, Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, and several faith-based organizations.  

The organization recently launched Snack Attack to address childhood hunger by providing afterschool snacks for distribution to the Lakeville Pantry in Lakeville, CT. This effort is spearheaded by Nico’s brother, Thomas, who attends boarding school nearby.  

And the movement expanded further north when BakeNYC opened their BakeBoston affiliate earlier this year.  

When Nico returns to New York to attend New York University (NYU) in 2023, he hopes to grow BakeNYC further by involving the NYU community. 

We are grateful that nothing stops Nico from making time to feed his neighbors. Thank you, Nico!  

In honor of NCS’s 40th anniversary, we will be sharing stories about our founders, volunteers, supporters, and staff who make our work possible, and the residents and clients at the center of our mission.
Check back throughout the year as we regularly update the series with new stories from our 40 years here.