Los Angeles love! Moonshadows proprietor JD Slajchert sat down with ET to share how the California neighborhood has come collectively to assist his household’s restaurant in Malibu, California after dropping it to the wildfires in Jan. 2025.
The eatery, visited by Britney Spears, LeAnn Rimes, Lupita Nyong’o, Kim Kardashian, and extra, was a go-to spot for well-known faces and past.
“What made Moonshadows so distinctive was that at one desk you can have a number of the most notable A-list celebrities, and on the desk beside them, there might be a standard household out to have fun a birthday. It was an genuine melting pot. I feel that was one thing that each celebrities and common patrons alike loved,” he defined.
And the outpouring love and assist the previous Division I athlete has obtained since is a testomony to only that.
“1000’s of individuals from everywhere in the world have reached out, usually sharing their favourite photographs and recollections from the restaurant. It has been so touching and immensely useful for my household and I as we navigate this tough scenario to have the ability to tangibly really feel that reminder about how impactful Moonshadows was,” he continued.
Along with receiving heartfelt messages, the novelist began a GoFundMe for the restaurant workers, which raised over $100,000, and so they have been in a position to serve a few of their hottest dishes at their sister spot, The Sundown.
“My hope is that we’ll proceed to stay collectively and stay resilient. … It will likely be exhausting, and it’ll take time, however I am assured in our neighborhood to bounce again. I consider in L.A.,” he shared.
Whereas the screenwriter has confronted his personal hardships not too long ago, it hasn’t prevented him from serving to others, together with these struggling with Sickle Cell Illness after dropping his good friend and UCSB basketball fan, Luc Bodden, to the well being situation.
“I consider that giving again is crucial factor we do. … I credit score this easy lesson in humility to my greatest good friend, Luc. … Luc taught me that even when it is one thing small, we now have to at all times be searching for others,” the motivational speaker famous.
in 2017, Slajchert even launched The LucStrong Foundation, a non-profit group that helps the household and kids identified with the blood dysfunction, and in 2018, he wrote MoonFlower, a best-selling novel about their bond, each of which always encourage him.
“Luc was legendary, and I do know he might tackle any problem thrown his method, but it surely’s lately that I really feel his legendary energy increasingly, and since he’s now not right here with us, I really feel an excellent accountability to hold his message ahead to a neighborhood that’s significantly in want of his inspiration proper now,” he mentioned forward of what would have been Bodden’s nineteenth birthday on Might 12.
“Stand tall, love one another, and keep in mind that you’re not alone and that we’ll get via this. Brighter days are forward, I promise,” he added.
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