For this extraordinary chef (@_luckydanger, @americansondc, @laobandumplings), it has been a year of survival, new beginnings and launching Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate (chefsstoppingaapihate.com). Ma sat down with us to discuss this successful effort, which has grown to be a coast-to-coast juggernaut.
You’re a busy man, so how did you pull off this incredible nonprofit?
When all those things started happening against Asian Americans, [chef] Kevin Tien and I were really affected by it. We needed to do something. It was our moment. We were already passionate about BLM, and now [this was about] our people. Together, with [chefs] Tien, Erik Bruner-Yang, Peter Chang and Yuan Tang, we created one to-go dinner, and it sold out fast. When we saw that visceral reaction, we were like, ‘All right, we’ve got to do more. … We have to go to other cities.’
How does AAPI work and raise money for the cause? Most nonprofits have to raise money through donors or events or sponsorships. We do that too, but we have a direct product—these to-go dinners—so we have direct revenue. We were donating to Stop AAPI Hate and Rise (risetowin.org). For the dinners in New York, Detroit and San Francisco, we asked for a list of local nonprofits so we could give a portion of the profits to directly help locally. We’ve also received donations from corporations and individual donors.
How much money has been raised? More than $150,000, and it has been spread out across a dozen national and local AAPI-focused organizations.
What were some of the reactions to the work? People were coming to pick up our first dinner and were crying. People would buy our $150 dinner every week. We had volunteers every week. People were paying attention to this locally and nationally, culminating in a segment on the Today show.
I hear your organization also recently helped Afghan refugees. We put together a dinner for Afghan refugees at Moon Rabbit (@moonrabbitdc) and raised nearly $16,000 in one night. There are so many problems centered around race, and the focus continually shifts. We want to keep supporting initiatives as they come up—and fighting hate. In terms of race problems in America, we need to keep talking. We need to be kind to each other.
Photography by: Rey Lopez
