Comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish is giving away free groceries for victims of the Eaton Fire and anyone else in need.
The “Girl’s Trip” star chipped in for those shopping at Altadena’s Super King Market between 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. She posted the message to her over seven million Instagram followers, and the community heard her loud and clear.
About 500 people were in line before 11:00 a.m., a security guard told KTLA 5. They braved the heat to get a spot in line. One person got there at 8:00 a.m.
“I called every rich friend to help me,” Haddish told KTLA 5’s Samantha Cortese.
She enlisted the help of businessman Stephen Cloobeck, the founder, former chairman and chief executive officer of Diamond Resorts. He’s also running for California governor as a Democrat.
“It’s an affordability crisis, and we’ve got to let everyone know it’s real. It’s real. California is not affordable, livable, or workable, and we’re showing everyone this is real,” Cloobeck said. “And we got to do it together. We’ve got to fix what’s broken here.”
Politics aside, Haddish wanted to give back because she knows what it’s like to be hungry.
“I know how hard it is to feed a family, the stress of it, and the cost for food today is ridiculous. It makes me so mad,” she exclaimed.
Yes, she goes to the store to buy her food herself, regardless of her celebrity status.
“I’m a human being, and I need to eat too, and I like to buy my own food, and I’ll pay for everybody in line behind me.”
The event itself brought her to tears; she jokingly said she’d be “dried up” by the time she gets home.
“This is filling my heart up so much. Happy tears, happy tears, gratitude. Tears like I’m just so thankful to God to be able to put me in a position to work my butt off and to be able to share and then make good friends like Steven.”
Cloobeck isn’t the only big name helping Haddish out.
She noted that Leonardo DiCaprio, Nia Long and D.L. Hughley have donated.
“Kevin Hart said he gonna send some money, but he ain’t saying nothing yet,” she joked.
Each shopper is given $150 worth of groceries free of charge. When guests arrive, they receive a yellow ticket with the guidelines, which read:
- You can only buy five meat items
- You can not buy a large number of items for resale
- No beer, alcohol, or tobacco products.
If you want to donate, head to https://www.diasporagroceries.com.