Bay Area food community unites to help Puerto Rico
In the first few days after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, Jacqueline Roman, coowner of El Coqui Restaurant in Santa Rosa, was on the phone constantly. It took a week to find out her aged father in Ponce and brothers in Penuelas were alive and healthy.
“The anxiety and the stress of trying to get through to your family is undescribable,” her business partner Tina Jackson said. At the same time, she added, “It didn’t take but seconds for people to come to the restaurant and ask, ‘How’s your family? And what can we do?’ ”
Bay Area restaurants and food professionals with connections to the islands are finding themselves in a similar position: far from the disaster, aching to help. As connectors for Puerto Ricans in Northern California, local restaurants have become touchpoints for fundraising, whether through Facebook or in person.
Puerto Rican Coast Guard members stationed on the Sonoma Coast emailed Jackson and Roman. Members of Santa Rosa’s small Puerto Rican community reached out. Customers offered donations. El Coqui became, in Jackson’s words, “a launching pad.”
“Our customers are holding us accountable — first with concern but then the expectation that we will help,” Jackson said.
Sol Food, the muchbeloved Puerto Rican restaurant with locations in San Rafael and Mill Valley, is matching cash donations from customers up to $20,000, according to its Facebook page. As of the restaurant’s most recent update on Monday, the restaurants have raised over $6,800. They are also listed as one of the sponsors for a salsa dance fundraiser to help fund efforts in both Puerto Rico and Mexico, which suffered a devastating 7.1 earthquake last month. The dance is being hosted on Oct. 22 by Club Puertorriqueno de San Francisco, a Puerto Rican social club and nonprofit organization.
Oakland’s Borinquen Soul and San Francisco’s Parada 22 each have launched GoFundMe campaigns to assist with relief efforts, publicizing them through social media or signs pasted up inside the businesses. Parada 22 manager Mason Bellber says the campaign has received $5,000 in checks along with $2,800 in smaller donations online. Borinquen Soul is also accepting drop-off donations of supplies like baby food, batteries, hygiene products and clothes at its restaurant.
“We have a lot of family down in Puerto Rico, and I just figured we might use (GoFundMe) to raise a lot of money for the people in their communities,” says Bellber.
All day Tuesday, El Coqui donated 25 percent of sales to several relief campaigns. Local wineries contributed cases and winery tours. Friends rustled up items for the silent auction. Musicians playing for free.
“People keep saying, ‘It’s the least I can do,’ ” Jackson said.