Cooking with Care for the Community

Published April 2025

Meet Daniele Levine, Executive Director of Community Cooks! After seeing first-hand how a home cooked meal shared amongst the community can uplift folks from all walks of life, she officially joined the Community Cooks team in 2013. Community Cooks still upholds the vision of serving neighbors and sharing food established by co-founders Vicky I and Lucy Leu in 1990.

Tell us a little bit about Community Cooks!

Community Cooks (CC) mobilizes individuals and businesses, as well as civic, educational, and faith-based groups to provide home-cooked food for vulnerable populations seeking assistance from human service agencies in Somerville and all around Greater Boston. 

Every month, our 750+ volunteers prepare meals that nourish over 2,000 neighbors in need—more than 24,000 each year. Our 35 partner agencies include shelters, after-school programs, and other human service providers that offer vital support to struggling adults, youth, and families. 

By contributing free meals, we help partner agencies stretch their limited resources so they can focus on delivering critical services and it sends a message of comfort to people at risk of slipping through the cracks. By rallying all sectors of our society to participate in a culture of service, we promote community engagement and offer our cooks of all ages a concrete way to weave volunteerism into the fabric of their lives.

What inspired the start of Community Cooks?

Our founder and long-time Somerville resident, the incomparable Vicky I started the organization with her childhood best friend Lucy Leu in 1990. Lucy and a handful of her neighbors on Westwood Road wanted to do something concrete to support a growing number of unhoused folks in their neighborhood. They began preparing a monthly meal for the Somerville Homeless Coalition's adult shelter. Since then, the organization has grown exponentially but has always remained true to this simple, powerful vision of neighbors serving neighbors through sharing food.

Twenty years ago, I experienced the impact of Community Cooks’ work first-hand when I was a staff member at RESPOND, one of CC’s partners in Somerville that provides support and shelter to survivors of domestic violence and their families. Vicky called the office one day in 2003 and asked if we’d like to receive home-cooked meals for our shelter residents and support groups. I couldn’t quite believe it but immediately said yes. 

I had the luck of welcoming CC volunteers who came to our doorstep with potluck style dishes that looked like they were for a family gathering, hand-labeled with ingredients. I saw the impact these meals had firsthand—making people feel not just well fed but often moved that a stranger cared enough to prepare a meal for them at a time when their lives were in upheaval. Once word spread about CC meals, attendance in our support groups went up as the prospect of sharing food drew people in, making the hurdles to accessing services feel a little less daunting. 

I was immediately hooked on this simple model of community support and eventually became the organization’s first executive director in 2013. My passion for this work—a very local, personal approach to supporting people in need and building community—has only grown deeper over time.

What aspect of your business makes you most proud to be a business leader in our community?

I love that Community Cooks is personal, local, and simple—and full of heart. I love that we bring people together across all sectors of our society to nourish people and programs working on the front lines to make the world better. A home-cooked meal is more than physical nourishment alone. Sharing food encourages people to connect, talk to each other, and gather strength to face challenges. I am so proud that we support the missions of 35 different nonprofits and reach so many different populations. And I'm incredibly proud of our amazing team and our Board for making our mission come to life every day.

How do you #LoveUnionSquare?

I've worked in Union Square on and off for almost 25 years and I love that it feels like a vibrant village.  Whether I'm walking down the street, grabbing a coffee, going out for dinner, or dashing to the post office, I know I will see friendly faces and often know people by name. It feels like home.

If you were to plan the perfect outing in Union Square, where would you go and what would you do?

Too many choices to pick one perfect outing!  I love The Eaves’ secret gem-like space and magical food, shopping at Reliable Market, browsing Wild Child and Green Tiger's treasures, eating pickle pizza, salmon bento and baba ganoush at Bow Market... Juliet, celeste, Sally's, Ebi Sushi—and Market Basket is my happy place. I could go on for hours!

Do you have any "behind the scenes" or fun facts that a customer might not know already?

People might not know just how dedicated our volunteers are and how seriously they take their commitment of making a home-cooked dish once a month. A few years back, one of our Cooks who was 9 months pregnant told us that she was on her way to the hospital to be induced but first wanted to be sure she could get her dish delivered. We are awed and so proud that about 40% of our volunteers have been cooking with us for 5 years or more! 

And one of my favorite fun facts: In the early days Community Cooks volunteers drove a van around Somerville collecting non-perishable food while blasting Beethoven's Ode to Joy--which was being played live from the van on a mini-keyboard by Lucy's young son.

Is there anything else you think a Square customer would like to know?

Community Cooks is turning 35 this year! We’ve always dreamed of bringing our work to life on camera—and thanks to an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant from The City of Somerville, we’re very excited to share our first professionally produced general awareness video which includes some scenes of Somerville. Stay tuned for ways to celebrate this milestone with us!

Connect with Community Cooks on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Their business hours are 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday.