A typical night at popular student hangout Prairie Moon doesn’t pick up until around 9 p.m., but Evanston’s business community got started early Wednesday. Beginning at 5 p.m., the bar and grill hosted a Hurricane Katrina relief benefit with music, drinks and a $20 buffet with food from several participating restaurants.
The fund-raiser at the 1502 Sherman Ave. restaurant was part of a larger initiative to involve the entire community in contributing to relief efforts.
“This is an important time to reach out,” said Sara Schastoc, executive director of the Evanston Community Foundation. “The immediate response is coming to an end and we’ve begun the rebuilding process.”
The foundation is working alongside the Evanston Chamber of Commerce to collect donations that Schastoc hopes will go to the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
Seven area restaurants, including the Davis Street Fish Market, 501 Davis St., Hecky’s, 1902 Green Bay Road, Dixie Kitchen, 825 Church St., and Merle’s Barbecue, 1727 Benson Ave., donated traditional southern cuisine such as jambalaya and cornbread. Prairie Moon also served food and offered two cash bars. Music was provided by local bands.
“We thought, ‘We have all these restaurants that serve New Orleans-style food, so let’s have an event,'” said Jonathan Perman, executive director of the chamber.
Prior to the benefit, residents were able to give to an established relief fund through local branches of Harris Bank, another partner in the project. Before the benefit began Wednesday, donations totaled $15,000. With an expected crowd of more than 200 patrons, Perman said he was hoping to go well over $20,000 at Wednesday’s event.
Perman said he and Mayor Lorraine H. Morton created the relief fund just a few days after the disaster struck and launched it within a week. The fund is designed to aid the Gulf Coast as well as the local victims who moved to Evanston after fleeing New Orleans.
“It had to be something that would organize Evanston and make an impact,” Perman said. “We needed a fund that would be flexible so we could help recovery efforts, but also people coming to Evanston in need.”
In addition to helping with the fund-raiser, Harris Bank has agreed to match the amount raised up to $100,000.
“It’s great that the community is rallied together, and we’re happy to help support the cause,” said Lyndy Davenport, vice president of business banking for Harris Bank.
She and Jeanna Bridges, Harris Bank president for Evanston and Wilmette, said they were having fun at the event.
“The food is great, and it’s always nice to get together with friends,” Bridges said.
Others at the benefit, such as chamber affiliate Sharon Mayberry, agreed.
“I probably wouldn’t have gotten a chance to visit all these restaurants,” Mayberry said. “It’s a good cause, it’s good publicity for Prairie Moon, it’s a great deal – everybody wins.”
Chamber board member Paul Giddings said the fund and the event were a great way to focus the efforts of the community because the flexibility of the project gives attention to the hurricane refugees that are here in Evanston.
“Katrina put pressure on local infrastructure systems nationwide, and this will help to alleviate that problem in Evanston,” Giddings said. “That’s huge, because most people aren’t recognizing that issue.”
Reach Kristyn Schiavone at [email protected].
