TROY — Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen, which since its 2016 founding has had a dual mission of operating as a restaurant and serving immigrant and refugee communities with English-language classes and other services, is one of 10 small businesses nationwide that are finalists for a $60,000 grand prize in the third annual Small Business Big Wins contest, sponsored by Barclays US Consumer Bank.
Online voting started Saturday and runs through April 10. The contest profile page with voting link for Sunhee’s is here. Winners will be announced May 3. In addition to the top prize going to the business with the most votes, the second-place finisher will receive $40,000, with $20,000 for third place and the remaining seven finalists receiving $5,000 apiece. Finalists were chosen by a panel of judges based on an essay that addressed the themes of making the dream for the business a reality and the business’ inspiration by, and impact on, its community.
In her essay for the contest, Sunhee’s owner Jinah Kim wrote, “Whether it’s by teaching English to newcomers, cooking food in the kitchen, wiping down tables, or sharing the stories of our staff, we believe it’s in the everyday interactions and pursuits that we can strive for excellence, and live out our collective dream in a real way.”
The restaurant has a registered not-for-profit sibling organization called Sunhee’s Community Place, located in a building on Fourth Street downtown across from the restaurant. A street-level community room is the site of language classes and training on computers, tablets and phones that Sunhee’s Community Place provides for newly arrived refugees or other immigrants. Classes are taught by a combination of paid staff and volunteers. Kim said the nonprofit in the past year has served more than 150 immigrants from 18…
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