As ICE raids intensify across Los Angeles, longtime community organizer Laura Ceballos has quietly launched a grassroots mutual aid effort in Venice, delivering food baskets directly to immigrant families too afraid to leave their homes.
Ceballos, who leads the Venice Community Resource Center and the Traquero Monument Committee, pulled together the first round of deliveries on July 6 with help from Northgate Market, Lupita’s Tacos (at Beethoven and Venice Blvd. in Mar Vista), and local supporters. Fifty food baskets filled with staples like rice, beans, pasta, oil, and canned goods were prepared and distributed—by hand, by word of mouth, and with total discretion.
“These are our neighbors. These are our children’s classmates. They work in grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, and hospitals,” Ceballos said. “They deserve dignity, and they deserve help.”
The baskets are being delivered to homes across the Westside—Venice, Mar Vista, and beyond—through a growing informal network of community referrals. Given the fear and isolation that many immigrant families are facing, outreach and deliveries are happening quietly, without fanfare or publicity. Most people hear about the baskets through friends, family members, or trusted local advocates.
The effort comes as many families face not just food insecurity, but looming rent bills and few resources. “There is no moratorium on evictions right now,” Ceballos noted. “People are scared. They can’t go to work, and they don’t know how they’ll pay rent.”
Donations of non-perishable goods are being accepted, with priority items including cooking oil, tomato sauce, tortillas, coffee, canned meats like tuna and chicken, powdered milk, peanut butter, Mexican pasta (like fideos), powdered creamer, toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, shampoo, and toothpaste. Volunteers are also needed to help pack food on the first Saturday of each month at the Venice Heritage Museum, which has offered space for assembling the baskets. The next event will be held on Saturday, August 2nd at 10:00 am.
While mutual aid is now her immediate focus, Ceballos is also preparing to relaunch fundraising for another long-term project: the Traquero Monument. The monument, years in the making, will honor the Mexican railroad workers whose labor helped build Los Angeles. After four years of navigating red tape, the city has finally approved the permit needed to move forward with installation at Venice Circle.
“It’s for laborers, for our people,” Ceballos said. “And now, when our communities are under attack again, I think people understand how important it is to honor our history and who this city was built by.”
Supporters can learn more and donate to the monument at venicetraqueromonument.org.
To contribute food, donate supplies, or volunteer with the food basket program, contact the Venice Family Resource Center (venicecommunityresourcecenter@gmail.com).