- Sunday, June 14 marked three years since the Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 72 people were killed as a fire tore through a West London apartment building.
- Survivors of the fire launched the Hubb Community Kitchen, where they prepared meals for the local community.
- Meghan Markle has long supported the Hubb Community Kitchen, visiting on several occasions and writing a foreword for the initiative's cookbook, Together: Our Community Cookbook.
Sunday, June 14 was the third anniversary of the devastating Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 72 people—predominantly working class people of color—were killed as a fire tore through an apartment building in Kensington, west London. In the wake of the disaster, women who lost their homes began to cook at the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, ultimately founding the Hubb Community Kitchen to prepare food for the displaced local community.
Meghan Markle, a longterm supporter of the Hubb Community Kitchen, has visited on numerous occasions, and spoke to members Leila Hedjem, Cherine Mallah, Halima Al-Hudafi, Oxana Sinitsyna, and Jennifer Odonkor over Zoom in April, after they launched a new initiative to deliver food to families amid the coronavirus lockdown. She also wrote the foreword to the 2018 cookbook Together: Our Community Cookbook, which raised over half a million pounds for the kitchen. On Sunday, as the Evening Standard reports, the Duchess of Sussex sent a heartfelt audio message to its volunteers, calling them "the example of love in action."
"I think back to when I met all of you and how you had all come together in the wake of what you experienced in your community," Meghan said in the audio message. "And now what you have done is such an inspiration—you continue to give back, you continue to to put love in action. And that’s really what Hubb is all about...we know it means love but you are the example of love in action, and that is your purpose."
Meghan chatted to Leila Hedjem, as well as cooks Cherine Mallah, Halima Al-Hudafi, Oxana Sinitsyna and Jennifer Odonkor. The women will be preparing meals in the their homes and deliveries will be handled by @StreetGames’ #FitAndFed, who Harry connected with Hubb last year.April 17, 2020
"I’m so proud of you, so is Harry, and we are sending so much love to you from across the pond and thinking of you today," Meghan continued. "I'm sure it’s a difficult day, but also one where you can look at how much you’ve accomplished in the past three years, and how you continue to give back and be an example for all of those around you."
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