Akindele Akerejah
“Despite my charisma, I had trouble managing money. [The IDA program] changed my attitude about saving.”
Akindele Akerejah loves to cook, and with the help of the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and a CAAB IDA, he is able do what he loves and achieve his dreams.
Originally from Nigeria, Akindele came to DC to attend Howard University. While attending college, he made the decision to follow in his father’s--a New Jersey-based exporter for the Nigerian government--entrepreneurial footsteps and pursue his own dream of business ownership. With his partner, another Howard student, Folarin Campbell, Akindele launched Delle and Campbell’s Halal Luncheonette.
LEDC, a CAAB partner, provided business training and a start-up loan to help Akindele open his food cart business in downtown DC. LEDC pointed Akindele to CAAB and the IDA program’s 3:1 match on participant savings for additional funds to help Delle stay in business. “I like that the IDA program encourages people to build despite the economy,” Akindele said. “It’s a lifeline, and it’s not just Lehman Brothers that needs a lifeline, street cart vendors need it, too.”
Delle & Campbell’s is part of DC’s first outdoor food court—“The Lunch Bunch” on 8th and H Street NW. The Downtown DC Business Improvement District and DC agencies are aiming to enliven public space and diversify the types of street carts in the city by supporting the cluster of Lunch Bunch vendors, including On The Fly, and DC Central Kitchen’s Capital Carts. “The variety is good because it’s like there’s no competition,” Akindele said. Interest in Delle & Campbell’s has been strong and the business has been featured in The Washington Post twice: once when they opened as part of the first new street cart options to hit the city in years, and again when The Lunch Bunch opened for business earlier this year.
Each weekday Delle & Campbell’s opens for business at 11 a.m. and closes at around 3 p.m. and offers an array of Halal items. His pita creations are a delicious concoction of sauerkraut, hummus, tomatoes, and your choice of meat: chicken, sausage, or lamb. You can even have the pita stuffed with French fries if you’d like and then each is topped off his Akindele’s special sauce. Food is cooked inside the vendor cart, which is equipped with a griddle and rotisserie. Despite the cold weather, Akindele says his and the other two carts will be open for business this winter, even if profits decrease. “The project is bigger than our profits,” he said.
Akindele also caters in the evenings and is looking to expand his catering business by reaching out to more potential clients. One way he is advertising is by being a part of the CAAB Online Business Directory, which features the small businesses started with IDA and MDA funds through CAAB.
For the most part, business is going well for Akindele, though he wishes he had more money to save. He has attended CAAB’s Money Management 101 classes, and is convinced that every attendee has the same goal in mind: financial security. Akindele credits CAAB’s IDA program for helping him get disciplined about saving. “Despite my charisma, I had trouble managing money,” he said. “It changed my attitude about saving.” He has been in business for himself for over a year now, and he considers his longevity a huge success in the food industry. With the help of community partners like CAAB and LEDC and the Lunch Bunch crowd, he is looking forward to continuing to grow his opportunity.
Read more about CAAB's Saver of the Month program, or nominate a Saver.
