After her first fundraiser was a sellout, a local convenience store owner has decided to hold a second fundraiser on Wednesday for hurricane relief efforts in Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico.
Grace Convenience Store, 468 W. Grand Ave., will sell plates of Korean cuisine to raise money for relief efforts in the wake of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
Owner Becky Kim said she felt she needed to find a way to help provide relief to those affected by the catastrophic storms.
Kim, a first-generation South Korean immigrant, moved to Hot Springs to pursue her dream of owning her own business after spending several years living in California.
Shortly before Hurricane Harvey, Kim was hospitalized and had to spend a week in intensive care. During her stay in the ICU of a local hospital, Kim said she felt called to find a way to serve her community.
"I got out of the hospital and I felt reborn. I knew that God wanted me to find a way to help people and share his love," she said.
Once Harvey hit, Kim decided her first mission would be to raise money for those affected by selling Korean cuisine out of her store. Kim and a friend, Mariana Vest, spent hours preparing enough food to make 300 plates to sell, while her friends and loyal customers spread the word around town.
Kim planned to serve food between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., but the overwhelming response from the community cut her mission short and she ran out of food well before 2 p.m.
"There was a line of people out the door and hardly any room inside. I had people coming in at 9 a.m. looking for food," she said.
Due to the overwhelmingly positive response for her first effort and two other hurricanes making landfall on American soil, Kim decided to do it all again. This time, she has raised the price of her plates and plans on making twice the food.
"I see Americans struggle. I live here and need to help take care of the other people (living in America). Puerto Ricans are Americans too," she said.
The first time around Kim was able to send $150 to Houston through her church. Although it was not as much money as she had anticipated, she has tweaked her operation this time so more of the money raised can go directly to charity and less to cover the cost of supplies.
Plates of Korean beef and chicken barbecue, fried rice and vegetable pancakes will be served starting at 10 a.m. She plans to keep selling plates until the food runs out or 2 p.m., whichever happens first, she said. Plates can be placed on hold by calling Kim at the store.
"People around here have never had good Korean food. Usually you have to travel to the big cities to taste that," Kim said.
In addition to selling plates of food, Kim has ordered 100 count cases of water, boxes of cereal, cans of soup and packets of oatmeal to send with the monetary donation. She is also accepting donations to add to whatever she raises that day. The donations will be sent to churches in affected areas so the resources reach the people directly.
"I want people who really need these things to get them," she said. "I hope to give these people courage, passivity and hope."
Local on 10/10/2017