L.A. restaurants and nonprofits mobilize to deliver groceries to sheltering immigrants
Last weekend, a trio of restaurateurs and a small army of volunteers took over the patio of Boyle Heights' X'tiosu, packing bags brimming with corn, squash, celery, potatoes, jalapeños, oranges, radishes and sopita ingredients such as boxes of dried pasta.
The Oaxacan-Mediterranean restaurant's staff churned out trays of salads, falafel, burritos, tabbouleh and Oaxacan hummus, in one of many community efforts in Los Angeles to feed and deliver groceries to immigrants and other residents sheltering at home as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids intensify across Southern California.
X'tiosu's owners assumed they would hand out food until closing hours. But in less than three hours, all 150 bags of groceries were gone.
'We understand the feelings that are happening in our community right now, even if we are legal,' said Xochitl Flores-Marcial, a partner in the restaurant. 'Even if we have documents, that doesn't exempt us from the danger that so many people are facing right now and in our culture.'
Flores-Marcial helps operate the restaurant with its chef-founders, Felipe and Ignacio Santiago, the latter of whom is also her husband. The trio had noticed that the street vendors who typically pass by their restaurant, and particularly the elderly vendors, vanished over the course of the last two weeks. The elotero, the woman selling churros, the paleteros and the fruteros — former fixtures in their corner of Boyle Heights — were nowhere to be seen.
The restaurateurs could understand why: Taqueros and all types of street vendors across Los Angeles are currently in hiding.
How could these vendors feed themselves if they couldn't sell their wares? The X'tiosu team wanted to help, but with their own restaurant struggling, couldn't donate all of their food and supplies. They turned to the community to help.
The three restaurateurs are Oaxacan and Zapotecan, and their ancestry has informed how they respond to crises, Flores-Marcial said. In times of strife, they tend to band together as a community, turning to the concept of guelaguetza, or reciprocal aid.
On June 11, the trio posted a call to action on the X'tiosu Instagram page, calling for donations to provide free meals for those in need. Some donated as little as $2, while one customer donated $500. They raised just over $3,000, all of which paid for produce and supplies.
'We want to know that people are not just eating, but eating foods that are comforting and that are giving us some sense of peace, whether that's sopita de fideos or calabacitas, or something that we would make on any given day but that currently has an extra meaning,' Flores-Marcial said.
Volunteers, primarily Oaxacan youth from the neighborhood, helped deliver the bags of food by knocking on doors or delivering them to specific addresses. Some in need sent their children to pick up bags, some came to pick them up by bike. A small team of about 10 people bagged the groceries, while others distributed.
One couple that came to the restaurant for lunch saw the effort unfolding around them, then also volunteered to help. They stayed to bag groceries until the end of the event.
The fundraiser also allowed X'tiosu to support local farms and other produce vendors, whose businesses have also seen steep downturns and dwindling customers.
'We understand that this moment is hurting us all,' she said, adding that their restaurant is barely surviving due to slowed business. 'I don't know how much longer we can do that … but other people are facing even more difficulty than we are, because they are more exposed.'
X'tiosu's restaurateurs had never spearheaded a community action on this scale but said that they could host one again in the future. In the meantime, they are contributing to food distribution efforts organized by other businesses.
Other grassroots efforts are sprouting up through Los Angeles, such as the L.A.- and Orange County-based Aquí Para la Comunidad. The new initiative is soliciting donations for groceries, then coordinating purchases and discreet donations for those staying home to avoid ICE.
Select grocery store chains are attempting to make shopping less dangerous for immigrants by waiving curbside delivery fees, as is the case with Northgate Markets, or offering discounted or no fees across delivery apps, as Vallarta Supermarkets is doing.
Longstanding aid organizations are also feeding the community. World Harvest Food Bank, a nonprofit based in Arlington Heights, regularly feeds Angelenos in need and offers mental health and behavioral services.
Through its Cart With a Heart program, each $50 donation fills a shopping cart with fresh meat, pantry items and produce. While World Harvest is not directly coordinating pickups and deliveries to immigrants remaining at home, the nonprofit is 'calling on all advocates, neighbors and community members — if you know someone who can't leave home, come pick up a cart.'
The Los Angeles chapter of the YMCA is delivering prepared meals, grocery items and other necessities as an extension of its FeedLA program; the organization regularly delivers food and other necessities to seniors and other residents during heat waves and beyond.
'If you're avoiding public spaces, we will come to you,' a public announcement from the YMCA LA read on Instagram.
'As the Center for Community Well-Being, we will be here to do all we can to ensure our LA region feels safe and supported now and always,' another post said.
YMCA locations across the region are assembling meals and supply packages, including in Koreatown, Van Nuys, Boyle Heights and Pacoima.
Representatives for YMCA LA declined to comment on its delivery initiative.
Throughout L.A., restaurants, bakeries, cafes and food organizations are banding together to raise funds for immigrants through food sales. A collaborative dessert box with sweets from some of the city's most celebrated bakeries — including Modu Cafe, Just What I Kneaded, Flouring and Delicias — sold out within hours of its announcement on Thursday. The proceeds from each $40 box will be donated to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
On Sunday, a swarm of L.A. chefs and restaurants will take over a stretch of the Venice Beach Boardwalk selling pizza, suya and kebabs to benefit the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and Gather for Good.
'Everyone is just so uncomfortable right now, and there's nothing better in Los Angeles than when we can immediately provide comfort to people,' said organizer and community activist David Turkell. 'Either a home-cooked meal or just some mac and cheese, or pizza or something else that really brings people back together.'
When multiple wildfires ripped through Los Angeles in January, Turkell helped form the fundraising L.A. Pizza Alliance. Now, he's co-organizing Sunday's event.
Chefs and restaurants have reached out to Turkell to participate in the fundraiser. The former political organizer said multiple undocumented chefs have also reached out to him, uncertain of their own futures.
'A lot of businesses are not happening right now because they're scared to be outside,' Turkell said. 'So I think we want to continue the sense of radical hospitality that existed during the pandemic and during the fires, and just keep that going.
'People are scared, and we want to make sure that people are comfortable in our community no matter who they are, no matter where they're from, because that's what this city is all about.'
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