Free food and more at South Central Mardi Gras cookout


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students give out food as a child looks on
More than 41,900 people experienced homelessness in Los Angeles in 2022, according to a report released by the Homeless Services Authority. (Melissa Grimaldo | Daily Trojan)

Tawanda Wise was depositing groceries into the South Hill community fridge one morning when she met Lisa Derinsicky, an advocate for unhoused people who coordinates the collection of supplies and oversees upkeep of the fridge. Derinsicky eventually invited Wise to an event she had helped organize: a community cookout featuring free food, clothes and personal protective equipment to support the local unhoused community.

Audio: Wise on why she gives back.

The Mardi Gras cookout featured the collective effort of USC student organizations such as AyuDirect, which uses Instagram to pair unhoused people with supplies donated from the local community, and the Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation, which advocates for workers’ rights, along with local community members which Derinsicky had built relationships with over time in the South Central community.

Sandra Hernandez, a designer for the local clothing brand UTZ’ALI, met Derinsicky during her time at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, where she graduated from in 1991. To Hernandez, an important aspect of UTZ’ALI’s mission is giving back to the community. Hernandez came to the cookout with her niece, husband, sister and other family members along with coworkers from UTZ’ALI, bringing clothes, toys, shoes and bag lunches to the event. 

Audio: Hernandez on why she gives back.

In addition to the supplies which UTZ’ALI contributed, a GoFundMe page created by AyuDirect raised $290 to help pay for supplies, and USC SCALE collected more clothes, food and personal protective equipment to provide for the event. 

“These are all friend-based commitments,” Derinsicky said. “The word of mouth for unity within our community really is a successful thing.” 

Wise arrived at the cookout at 9 a.m. and helped Lisa with gathering supplies throughout the day. Later in the day, Maria Rodrigues arrived with her daughter Francia Oxlaj, wheeling in a cart with a griddle on top.

Audio: Oxlaj on moving to Los Angeles.

As a hot dog vendor, Rodrigues usually sells hot dogs at events to provide for her family, but during the cookout she provided steaming hot dogs topped with grilled onions and bell peppers free of charge. For Rodrigues and Oxlaj, the support that Derinsicky and other community members provided was crucial in helping them adjust when they moved to the Los Angeles area in 2021, and providing free hot dogs was a way of giving back to the community.

Grilling burgers at the edge of the cookout was Dominic Jocas, the founder of AyuDirect and a sophomore majoring in arts, technology and the business of innovation. Jocas met Derinsicky at the community fridge one day and was instrumental in helping Jocas connect with other organizations from USC and beyond that address homelessness. Jocas founded AyuDirect in January 2022 as a way of getting USC students more involved in the local community.

“Everybody in the USC community, they’re very isolated in the bubble and they don’t see themselves as South Central residents,” Jocas said. “[There are] these really amazing people … I just wish I could share that with other people.” 

Rather than donating clothes and supplies to large clothing drives, Jocas said donating through AyuDirect allows a person to know exactly who their supplies are going to and what their story is.

Over 41,900 people experienced homelessness in the city of L.A. in 2022, according to a report released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. To address this, the city of L.A. typically engages in “street sweeps” to dismantle and streetside shelters and disperse unhoused people. Currently, due to Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18, it is illegal to sit, sleep, or make encampments near overpasses, public libraries, schools and daycares, among other locations.

To combat the shrinking of the unhoused community in the area, the Mardi Gras cookout took place further down the street from the South Hill Community Fridge, where it was located during past cookouts, to reach new people.

“Right now I was able to get some of my friends from 33rd and 32nd street to come. And they told me that on Tuesday, they’re gonna get cleared out,” Derinsicky said. “There’s no more extensions, they’re gonna get cleared out. Where are those people gonna go?”

As someone who is currently experiencing homelessness, Derinsicky faced pressure and threats from the city to relocate her trailer in August. Fortunately, a GoFundMe page through AyuDirect created to support Derinsicky raised over $4,600, surpassing its initial goal of $3,000, to secure a motor home for Derinsicky, her two dogs and other members of her animal family where she could continue living. 

For the support that USC students have provided, Derinsicky gave “the biggest thank you possible.” 

“Each and every one of them is a powerhouse, every single one.” Derinsicky said. “When you get a whole bunch of powerhouses united, it’s an immeasurable success.”