Sisters and Friends

Eva Cecelia McCoy and Sophia Adelle McCoy grew up in Minnesota and moved to New York City with their mom about five years ago, when the teens were in middle school and college. The sisters were excited to form a new community of friends, who like them, cared about helping others.  

They found that opportunity at St. James’ Church, which the family joined shortly after moving. Sophia and Eva began volunteering at the St. James’ soup kitchen, which serves meals to those in need on Tuesday for lunch and Friday for dinner*. They have also volunteered to make dinner with fellow St. James’ parishioners in the NCS kitchen for our residents. 

“I love volunteering because it creates a community,” Eva shared. “I was looking to become friends with the other volunteers, but I have also become friends with many of the NCS residents who frequent the meals. One of my favorite parts of volunteering pre-COVID was getting to know the guests as they ate. This has been more difficult since we aren’t able to eat together now, but I still love seeing the guests and saying hi to them around the community.” 

Sophia was in agreement. “You create a community with not only the people you are serving but those you are serving with. The beauty is that these relationships don’t only exist within the few hours you are actually volunteering; they carry over into the rest of your life.”   

Since first moving to New York five years ago, Sophia has graduated from City College of New York (CCNY) and is now the Head of Food Policy and Advocacy for The Farmlink Project, a non-profit started by college students that connects surplus produce on farms with food banks around the country. In the past two years they have moved over 75 millions pounds of produce to communities in need that would normally go to waste. She is also the Co-Chair of the St. James’ Meal Program, which has been a huge part of her life since she moved to NYC.   

Eva graduated from high school this May and started studying psychology and writing at Hunter College this Fall. She is interested in working in the mental health field and hopes to keep her faith integrated with her career and life. She plans to continue volunteering at St. James’ and NCS and hopes to become more involved with NCS’s NextGen Network of young professionals. Learn more about the NextGen Network here.    

* Read more about how these, and other, meal programs started and the role they played in NCS’s founding here. Read about how NCS Board Member Jan Golann and community member Faith Fraser ensured that NCS clients continued to receive meals from St. James’ throughout the early days of the pandemic here.   

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.