Kaz's Memorial Education Fund

On NYE, we lost a valuable member of our community to an act of senseless violence. Kaz - an admired producer, loving father, and community pillar - lost his life in his studio located in the same building as People’s Kitchen.

At the time of the event, our entire team was heads down preparing for our NYE dinner as well as Governor Whitmer’s inaugural celebration. We were suddenly thrown into a state of shock, fear and confusion as we quickly locked our restaurant down after discovering a person had been shot on property.

Our staff was first to arrive on the scene. Still unsure if the shooter was in the area, several team members rushed to aid, attempting to save the victim with compression and CPR. We quickly realized that the victim was our business neighbor, restaurant regular, and good friend Kaz.

We are shaken to our core at the loss of our friend. In an attempt to cope with this massive loss, we have commissioned a portrait of Kaz to honor his memory at Peoples.

In addition, we are establishing this GoFundMe education fund for his daughter, as well as holding a memorial benefit dinner on Tuesday, January 24th at People’s. All are invited to come and break bread, speak about Kaz's life and experiences, and share our memories with our beloved friend. All proceeds will go directly to the fund.