Detroit Businesses Are Holding Food Pop-Ups to Assist Victims of Hurricane Ida

Detroit-area restaurants and food-based companies are collaborating this week on a series of pop-ups to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Ida in Wallace, Louisiana. The pop-ups will begin on Tuesday, September 7, and run through Sunday, September 12.

The collaboration is a personal fight for organizer and chef Ederique Goudia of Gabriel Hall, who is leading the efforts with Raphael Wright and Jermond Booze, her business partners in Taste of the Diaspora, a local collaborative that celebrates foods from the African diaspora. Goudia’s family is from Wallace, a town about 50 miles outside of New Orleans.

Hurricane Ida tore through southeast Louisiana on August 29, becoming the second-most damaging hurricane after Katrina to strike the state of Louisiana. The storm knocked out power to millions of residents, including much of New Orleans, as heat and humidity made the air in much of southern Louisiana and Mississippi feel hotter than 100 degrees. Basic services like emergency response, and everyday amenities like water, sewage and passable roadways, were no guarantee in many places, officials said.

“Wallace is a very small, tight-knit community that doesn’t get the resources and aid that bigger cities like New Orleans get,” Goudia says in a release. “This is my family and the town that raised me, so I want to do my part to take care of my people.” Goudia and the Detroit businesses are partnering with the nonprofit Descendants Project, which is working to provide hot meals, charging stations, a cooling center, gift cards, and other resources to residents affected by the Category 4 storm.

Wallace is also the site of Whitney Plantation, one of the only plantations in the United States dedicated to telling the story of the lives of enslaved people.

To donate to the relief efforts, visit www.tastethediaspora.com and click the link at the top of the page.

Schedule of pop-up events

Tuesday, September 7, 6 p.m.

Community workout with Detroit Body Garage at the site of the future Neighborhood Grocery
500 Manistique St., Detroit; $15

Wednesday, September 8, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Gabriel Hall pop-up at Batch Brewing Co., with a performance by the Gabriel Brass Band and DJ Boog
1400 Porter St., Detroit; $20 (proceeds will also benefit displaced musicians)

Thursday, September 9, 2021, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Chef Matt Johnson is cooking Creole food at Batch Brewing Co.
1400 Porter St., Detroit

Friday, September 10, 6 p.m.

New Orleans Bounce cardio workout with Crystal Marie at Beats, Thymes, & Life Garden
434 W. Margaret St., Detroit; $15/person

Saturday, September 11

Day party at Spot Lite Detroit with DJ Skeez, 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
2905 Beaufait St., Detroit; $5 suggested donation at the door

AND

Pay-what-you-can pig roast at Batch Brewing Co., noon until food sells out
1400 Porter St., Detroit

Sunday, September 12

Private event hosted by Make Food Not Waste

• Taste the Diaspora Detroit Celebrates Black Food Contributions to American Cuisine