Washington D.C. Food Blogger Donates GameStop Earnings To Local Restaurant To Help Feed Children In Need
Thank goodness for blogger Danny Kim ... and GameStop stocks!
YouTube & Hanson-Leung / Shutterstock Last week, when GameStop’s stock skyrocketed again, Washington D.C. food blogger Danny Kim suddenly had more money than he expected.
“I just got like one and then that ended up being like a thousand percent return,” Kim said.
With COVID-19, Kim saw the negative effect it had on small businesses — specifically, restaurants.
He knew he needed to make an impact.
Kim is the owner and creative director for Eat the Capital. They seek to highlight “good eats and good vibes in the D.C. area.”
“I know friends who are restaurant owners, who are paying out of their own pocket, $20,000 just to cover rent,” Kim said. “They are not making enough sales.”
Taking that into consideration, he donated $1,000 of his GameStop stock earnings to a local restaurant called Po Boy Jim Bar and Grill. They are known in the community for giving back and feeding children in the community.
Kim’s donation is large enough to feed about 120 children. The owners plan to match that number. This would feed around 240 children in the community.
“We always did local schools throughout D.C.,” said co-owner Jeffeary Miskiri. “We feel as though, it’s very important to feed the youth.”
“We’re pretty excited about it,” co-owner Ian Reid said.
The children will receive free meals on Friday at 5:00 p.m., on H St. NE, and children must be accompanied by their parents or guardians.
Even while dealing with the challenges and setbacks from COVID-19, the 6-year-old restaurant believes firmly in always giving back and helping out.
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“Being a business owner, it’s not just all about the business standpoint, in terms of how much money you make. A part of being successful is what you do for your community, that’s the motto that we live by,” Miskiri said.
They have had to adapt, like many other food-related businesses to the new ways of getting their product out to their customers.
“We’re doing a lot of to go, a lot of delivery,” Reid said.
Kim is quite popular on TikTok, as he has amassed over 1.7 million likes and over 61K followers. He blogs and makes videos about food throughout the D.C. area.
His most viewed video on the platform has received 3.4 million views.
He regularly goes to restaurants, tries the food, and then makes an entertaining video reviewing the food, sometimes giving a behind-the-kitchen look that many customers don’t get.
Kim not only makes a change in the community through direct help like donations, but he gets many small businesses millions of eyes through social media, which in turn, may bring new customers.
Tomás Diniz Santos is a writer living in Orlando, Florida. He covers news, entertainment, and pop-culture topics.