Houston’s Southern Smoke Foundation Has Already Awarded A Year’s Worth of Aid to Restaurant Workers | Eater Houston

"Led by Houston’s James Beard Award–winning chef Chris Shepherd and his wife Lindsey Brown (the executive director), this nonprofit has distributed $12.3 million in aid to restaurant workers since its 2015 launch and continues to increase annual grantmaking. As of July 1, Brown reports the organization has already awarded more than $1 million this year — a stark contrast to 2023’s total of just over $1 million — which she attributes to growing awareness and to rising need driven largely by storms and wildfires. The group has provided targeted relief after events such as Storm Derecho (disbursing $330,600 to 372 grantees, about $888 each) and Tropical Storm Beryl, continues to assist workers affected by the Ruidoso and Maui fires (including a recent $35,000 GlobalGiving grant to help 23 people), and still has roughly 400 people on its waitlist. In addition to emergency cash assistance, it operates a no-cost mental-health counseling program delivered through partner universities and has expanded those services into several additional states and Washington, D.C. Its annual fundraising festival at Downtown’s Discovery Green helps raise the funds that support these grants and services for hospitality workers in crisis." - Brittany Britto Garley