LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 5, 2025--
Food for Health, a free nutritious food distribution program of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and Fairoaks Burger, a beloved Altadena eatery and landmark that miraculously survived the January wildfires, are honored to announce the unveiling of a new mural by world renowned Los Angeles muralist Robert Vargas to be unveiled Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 AM in Altadena, California.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250605624899/en/
Vargas’ mural celebrates the resilience of the Altadena community and Fairoaks Burger and their ongoing partnership with Food for Health to alleviate hunger in the fire-ravaged community.
"In the wake of the fires, we saw what true community looks like," said Carlos Marroquin, National Director for AHF’s Food for Health Program. "This mural reflects the spirit of hope, survival, and the ongoing commitment to serve our neighbors with dignity and care."
“It is an incredible honor for us to have Fairoaks Burger used as one of Robert’s iconic canvases and as a reflection of our longstanding presence in the community,” said sisters Janetand Christy Lee, owners of Fairoaks Burger. “More importantly, it would bring attention to our collective efforts to build Altadena back better while preserving our distinct neighborhood culture. We sincerely appreciate being considered for this opportunity and will strive to continue to make FOB a cornerstone of Altadena going forward.”
In early March, in a gracious show of solidarity, the Lee sisters and Fairoaks Burger began partnering with AHF’s Food for Health in the free weekly farmers’ markets hosted in the restaurant’s parking lot. The joint effort provides vital support to those struggling to access healthy, nutritious food in one of the most expensive cities in the country, especially for those now facing housing and financial challenges following the devastating Eaton Wildfire. The heavily damaged eatery survived the fire but needed, and has successfully undergone significant remediation, and is now set to reopen for business Saturday, June 14.
About Food for Health
AHF kicked off its Food for Health program in 2021 to provide free access to fresh produce, bread, eggs, and other staples in response to rising food insecurity among individuals, families, veterans, and the elderly. In 2023, it opened a weekly food pantry in a vacant storefront space at AHF’s Sinclair Hotel—also site of a new Robert Vargas mural unveiled in April—offering free high-quality groceries and produce from local farms.
Following January’s Southern California wildfires, Food for Health and AHF were among those first on the scene starting January 8, 2025, both at the Pasadena Convention Center and serving the Palisades Wildfire Command Center on Santa Monica Beach, where first responders transported hot meals up to firefighters on the front lines. Over the following weeks, Food for Health provided over 60,000 hot meals to fire evacuees following the Eaton Fire as well as and additional 15,000 hot meals to first responders in Pacific Palisades.
Food for Health’s free weekly Community Farmers’ Market at Fairoaks Burger takes place Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
World-renowned Los Angeles muralist Robert Vargas stands in front of a section of one of his previous murals, titled “Nourish the Soul,” which celebrates AHF's Food for Health program – a free, nutritious fresh food distribution program created by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). Vargas will unveil his latest mural partnership with Food for Health and Altadena's Fairoaks Burger on Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 am. (Photo: Mark Von Holden/AP Content Services for AIDS Healthcare Foundation)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Yaxzodara Lozada woke up Monday freezing after sleeping on the sidewalk outside a prison in Venezuela’s capital, hoping her husband, a police officer who was detained on Nov. 17, will walk free as part of a goodwill effort the government announced last week.
While Venezuelan commerce and daily life have begun to resume — with malls, schools and gyms reopening a week after a stunning U.S. attack led to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro — the promised release of imprisoned opposition figures, civil society leaders and journalists has materialized only in a trickle, prompting criticism.
Relatives of many of the more than 800 people that human rights organizations say are imprisoned in Venezuela for political reasons began gathering outside prisons Thursday, when the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez pledged to free a significant number of prisoners in what it described as a gesture to “seek peace.” Officials have not identified or given a number of prisoners being considered for release, leaving rights groups scouring for hints of information and families to wait anxiously.
As of Monday afternoon, the Venezuelan advocacy group Foro Penal had verified the release of 49 prisoners. Among those confirmed freed were several foreign nationals holding Italian, Spanish, Argentine, Israeli and Colombian citizenship.
Also on Monday, the White House confirmed that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.
Over the weekend, Trump said the releases came at Washington’s request.
“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners,” Trump wrote Saturday on his Truth Social platform.
Others criticized the government for not fulfilling its promise of releasing a significant number of people.
On Monday, the U.N.-backed fact-finding mission on Venezuela welcomed the release of prisoners, but said in a statement that the amount of people released in recent days “falls far short” of the wider demand for the “immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.”
Lozada said she had not seen her husband since he was detained on Nov. 17 — an arrest for which she says no reason was ever given.
Next to her, relatives of other detainees stretched and looked for water after spending the night on the ground, using old couch cushions and pieces of foam. In front of them, cars kept going by to drop off students at a school adjacent to the prison.
“These are two realities. They want the world to see that everything is normal, that nothing happened here,” said Jenny Quiroz, whose husband was detained Nov. 26 at his pharmacy in Caracas for allegedly criticizing the government in a WhatsApp group. “But it’s a mixture of anguish, despair…. You know what it’s like to have 48 days without knowing if he eats, if they have him isolated, if they are psychologically or physically torturing him?”
Quiroz said she wanted Trump to know that the information he is receiving regarding prison releases “is not 100% true.”
As relatives awaited news of their loved ones at prisons, the government deployed security forces to public schools around the country for the first day of classes since the holiday break. Uniformed students walked the streets of Caracas some alone and others accompanied by adults.
The Venezuelan government has tried to push forward a message of normalcy after the U.S. military operation that rocked the nation.
During a school tour broadcast on state television, acting President Rodríguez — surrounded by children — railed against the Trump administration while simultaneously striking an optimistic tone about the country’s future. She said her country is “actively resisting” the U.S. while “we’re writing a new page in Venezuelan history."
While teachers braced for questions from students about the Jan. 3 attack, preschool teacher Ángela Ramírez said the topic did not come up in her classroom.
“I didn’t address it because I didn’t notice the interest and a need in them to know what’s going on,” she said. “They are happy to be back at school."
Associated Press writer Megan Janetsky contributed from Mexico City.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
A man sits on steps decorated with a mural representing the eyes of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Children return to school after the holiday break in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Flor Zambrano, whose son, Rene Chourio, she says is detained at Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police for political reasons, embraces relatives of other detainees outside the facility in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Relatives of political detainees wait outside Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police after spending the night there in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Relatives wait outside Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, where political detainees are held, after spending the night there in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
