When the pandemic forced Daisy Li to shutter her longtime Moonstar Buffet in 2020, she didn’t walk away from the kitchen — she turned it into an emergency meal operation now supplying an average of 4,500 meals a day to seniors, unhoused people, children, and families across San Francisco, San Mateo County, and Santa Clara County.
Li’s transformation from restaurateur to nonprofit founder is detailed in a report from CBS News, which traces how Moonstar Buffet — which operated in San Francisco and Daly City for 30 years — became the foundation for Moonstar Charitable Organization, the nonprofit Li formed in 2021. Before the pandemic hit, Li had already built an 8,000-square-foot kitchen in South San Francisco, infrastructure that made her rapid pivot to emergency meal production possible once the dining room closed for good.
From Seafood Buffet to Senior Nutrition Pioneer
Li’s move into food assistance didn’t start with COVID-19. According to background compiled by the Daly City Colma Chamber of Commerce, Li and her husband, Chef Paul Ng, first opened Moonstar in 1991 as an upscale seafood buffet on San Francisco’s Market Street before relocating to a 400-seat facility in Daly City in 2006. In 2015, Li launched MoonChef, a venture built specifically to prepare affordable, culturally friendly meals for senior citizens.
According to the California Department of Aging, the Older Americans Act Title III C-2 Home-Delivered Nutrition Program provides nutritious meals via home delivery or to-go meals to individuals aged 60 or older. According to the California Department of Aging, investments in home-delivered and congregate meals increased by $52.5 million (ongoing) to support the nutrition needs of older adults…