Jerk Shack Seattle Land Fund

Today, more than ever, we are aware of the opportunity gaps in America. Kids from predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods have lots of dreams they can’t afford, and not enough networked role models to help them figure out how to get over that hump. We have been fortunate to start our business in downtown Seattle -- the only 100 percent Black-owned restaurant in the neighborhood -- but we know that’s not where the Black and brown community resides. Jerk Shack isn’t leaving downtown, but we are compelled to help our community and bring opportunity to neighborhoods that need it. Our plan is to start in our city, Seattle, by buying land and building a Jerk Shack in a shipping container, so we’re initiating a Land Fund to help us purchase land in a South Seattle neighborhood like Rainier Beach, Skyway or Renton. The vision: Jerk Shack II would help us achieve the scale we need to serve the community by providing our employees with health insurance, child care assistance, tuition assistance and college scholarships. We’re inspired by Dick’s Drive-In (one of my favorites) that serves its community by providing all of those benefits. Of course, most Dick’s are in predominantly white neighborhoods -- I want to create a source of community like that in Black and brown neighborhoods. Creating a new, fast casual Jerk Shack with a shipping container concept will be a scalable way to bring the restaurant -- and its associated opportunity -- to any neighborhood. We’d like to test the concept in Seattle, and then recreate it in neighborhoods up and down the West Coast. People say the system is broken. Well, it works just fine for those it was built by. I want to create a new system by setting an example of entrepreneurship, community, and social economic stability in the neighborhoods that don’t benefit from the current system. I want to show the younger generation that a person that looks like them and comes from the same place as them can create opportunities that benefit the community as a whole. Please join me and donate to this land fund so we can continue to expand as a community together, and build a legacy for the next generation. ~Chef Trey Lamont