After a three-alarm fire badly damaged the South Hall building at Eastern Market on April 30, members of the District community have joined together to support its merchants until the building is ready to reopen.
Clay Johnson, who lives in the District, started the group Eastern Market Rescue, which is organizing a fundraiser to support the merchants.
“It started out on Facebook. I just started a group and all of a sudden there were 500 people in it,” Johnson said. “It seemed foolish not to do something with that energy.”
The group is trying to convince local bars to donate a small portion of their profits on Tuesday to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, a group which gives grants to schools, charities and other groups in the area.
Johnson said that it is very important that the merchants be kept at Eastern Market, which is located close to the Capitol in Southeast, so that it will not turn into an empty building after reconstruction.
“It’s the only place to get decent meat and produce in town,” he said.
