More than 40 Chicago chefs and restaurant owners gathered this week to launch a coordinated effort to raise money for 125 families severely impacted by federal immigration enforcement since the start of Operation Midway Blitz in September.
Carnitas Uruapan on 26th Street, humming with top chefs enjoying tacos and crispy chicharones, was the backdrop for Wednesday’s announcement of “Todos Ponen: Una Noche de Pueblos y Platillos” (Everyone Contributes: An Evening of Cultures and Cuisine). The one-night event’s goal is to raise money to provide direct grocery support for Latino families in Little Village, McKinley Park, Pilsen, Logan Square, Hermosa, Avondale and Belmont Cragin who have been experiencing increased food insecurity driven by fear, job loss and limited safe access to grocery stores amid increased immigration enforcement activity in Chicago.
Diana Dávila, chef at Mi Tocaya Antojería and founder of the initiative, said it’s a shift away from traditional food-centered fundraisers that are often limited to providing families a one-time meal.
“One meal is just not enough, I wanted to take a larger approach,” Davila told the Tribune. “If a family didn’t have to think about or be worried about where their family’s next meal was going to be for one week, for two weeks, for three weeks, for four weeks … this really could be six-plus weeks. That would be amazing.”
The fundraising event will be held Jan. 19 at the Ramova Theatre, formatted similar to events such as Chicago Gourmet or Tacos and Tequila, where chefs and restaurants serve tasting menu-style bites at different stations. The chefs slated for the event include Michelin-starred or James Beard winners, including Kasama’s Genie Kwon and Tim Flores, Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe, and Avec’s Paul Kahan and Dylan Patel. Rick Bayless is among several other notable names who will be there too.
Organizers are shooting to raise $100,000 with general admission tickets available for $125 or $175 for VIP/early access.
Rather than distributing food boxes, the money will be used to purchase gift cards from family-owned supermercados such as La Chiquita, El Guero and Jimenez Supermercado. Each gift card will be loaded with $800, a number that Davila said they reached after studying figures on average grocery expenditures.
“You get to budget yourself based on what your needs are,” she said. “Families know exactly what they need and where they shop. This model respects that reality while supporting the businesses that anchor our neighborhoods.”
Marcos Carbajal, owner of Carnitas Uruapan and host of Wednesday’s launch, said that what he hopes will be an ongoing effort is relevant now more than ever.
“These communities have been decimated,” Carbajal said, speaking at the launch. “24 hours ago, we had (Customs and Border Protection) out 20 feet from here, choppers above, 10 trucks circling. Might even come back today.”
Carbajal has previously spoken on the dire situation for restaurants. As intense immigration enforcement rippled across the Chicago area, the restaurant industry faced a new reality, one with fewer customers dining in, owners locking their doors when they felt unsafe and businesses operating at a loss.
During the height of immigration arrests in Chicago, the blow to foot traffic was widespread across the city, but felt most in neighborhoods with higher Latino populations. The fear of run-ins with agents dampened neighborhoods that would otherwise be bustling with shoppers or filled with the bells of street vendors.
Already among the city’s most vulnerable, street vendors particularly face greater financial instability, limited benefits and safety risks stemming from insecure working conditions. Some have been forced to stop working, while other street vendors continue to put themselves at risk for a much-needed income.
Midway Blitz tapered off in Chicago last month, but left behind court battles and communities experiencing a new normal. The immigration crackdown briefly went to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then moved to New Orleans, before returning in force.
The day before the Todos Ponen event, agents arrested a tamale vendor who regularly sets up at 47th Street and Hermitage Avenue in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, according to witnesses and the vendor’s daughter. Agents made several arrests in supermarket parking lots and threatened residents who confronted them that they’d unleash tear gas.
Those communities are fundamentally changing to adapt to federal immigration fears, Carbajal said Wednesday.
“The business community is suffering. People are taking a really tough mental toll with coming to work and going from work,” he said. “But not everything is bad — we’re using our platform here as chefs and restaurateurs. This is leading to something bigger than us. And when we’re all coming together, there’s incredible things that are going to happen.”
Grocery gift card recipients have been identified by nonprofits that serve community areas across the city, such as Resurrection Project, New Life Centers of Chicagoland and Palenque LSNA. Erendira Rendon, chief program officer at Resurrection Project, said each organization went through their clientele and identified families that were severely impacted by an ICE arrest or families in the throes of costly immigration legal proceedings.
“We have one family, where within five days of the dad being detained, he was sent to Mexico, leaving behind his wife and kids,” Rendon said. “It’s a really terrible situation some families are put in … so we know which ones need even more support than others. But of course, every one of our clients could use the help.”
On Wednesday, among the sea of chefs in attendance for the launch was Tacotlan’s Jessica Perjes, Zubair Mohajir of Mirra, Sarah Mispagel-Lustbader and Ben Lustbader of Loaf Lounge, Thattu’s Margaret Pak and several others.
Mike Moreno, owner of Osito’s Tap, one of Todos Ponen’s beverage partners, said he immediately jumped on board when Carbajal approached him about the idea.
“We’ve been here for 49 years and we always believe in taking care of your community because the community is what built you up,” Moreno said. “I know the city is struggling, Little Village is struggling to such a degree it’s unfathomable. I hope initiatives like this will at least put that positive energy back and get that money going again.”
For some chefs, immigration enforcement hits even closer to home. Fernando Sotelo, general manager of his family restaurant, 5 Rabanitos, said some members of his extended family who came from Mexico are struggling deeply with what’s going on.
“In our community, the people impacted the most are breadwinners, as they say, and sometimes don’t know when or where the next check is going to come from,” Sotelo said.
His family, like so many other chefs and restaurateurs in attendance on Wednesday, has been involved with community efforts to feed and fund families impacted by an immigration arrest. But Sotelo said Todos Ponen feels larger than most food-focused efforts so far.
“(My father) and I immediately jumped to be part of this because it allows people to use the money how they need to and this is a way to give back to them in a bigger way … be there for them like they have supported our restaurant,” he said.
Dávila and the Mi Tocaya team launched the first iteration of Todos Ponen in 2020, when they wanted to provide relief to immigrant families who were navigating COVID-19 with almost no institutional support. But the limitations of one-time meal distributions became impossible to ignore, she said.
When putting the grocery-support idea on paper with Carbajal and other organizers, Davila said the emphasis kept coming back to empathy, and a realistic, practical solution to soften — just a little bit — what families are facing in turbulent times.
“I hate feeling angry and depressed, but it is important to get that out too, but I kept coming back to, ‘What can we do that really is impactful and positive, that doesn’t have to be with hating something?” Davila said. “It’s something like this. This is us, loving our people in our community.”
Participating restaurants
5 Rabanitos
Antique Taco
Atotonilco Taquería
Avec
Birria Tatatacos
Bueno Days
Carnitas Uruapan
Casa Yari
El Che + Brasero
Hacienda Real
Frontera Grill and Topolobampo
Galit and Cafe Yaya
Giant
The Greggory
il Carciofo and Rosemary
Kasama
Kie-Gol-Lanee
Kimski
La Catedral Cafe & Restaurant
La Josie and Solázo
Lexington Betty’s Smokehouse
Loaf Lounge
Loba
Logan Oyster Social
Luella’s Southern Kitchen
Lula Cafe
Migos Fine Foods
Mi Tocaya Antojería
Mirra
Nuevo León
Parachute and Anelya
Perilla Korean American Fare
Pochos
Publican
Rubi’s (Maxwell Street Market)
Santa Masa Tamalería
Tacotlán
Tamale Guy Chicago
Taqueria Chingón/Mariscos San Pedro
Thattu
Tzuco
Casa Humilde Cervecería
Cantina Rosa
La Licorería Panamericana
Marz Community Brewing
Ositos Tap
Patrón Tequila
