At around 6 AM on the 1st, a Benz electric car caught fire in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Cheongra-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon. The fire started in nearby cars and spread to the apartment. At the time, the fire melted the apartment’s electrical and water facilities, causing a power outage and displacing many residents.
Some of the affected residents were able to find accommodations in nearby accommodations, but the majority were holding on by eating convenience store lunch boxes from the Cheongna 1 and 2-dong community centers and the Korean Red Cross Blood Donation Center.
Kim Do-hee opened her Sundae soup restaurant on the 4th to provide free meals to the displaced people. Kim even gave up her own holiday to help the displaced people who have lost their peace of mind due to the power outage.
![“Electric car fire worries, soothe them with sundae soup”… Kim Do-hee, who provided free meals to evacuees [따만사]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/08/14/126520568.2.jpg "“Electric car fire worries, soothe them with sundae soup”… Kim Do-hee, who provided free meals to evacuees [따만사]")
| What led to the free meal offer? |
Mr. Kim was doing business on the evening of the 2nd, the day after the accident. A family came into his store, sweating profusely.
“Welcome~ I guess you worked out today.”
Mr. Kim greeted them in a friendly manner, but their response was shocking. The previous day, the electric car fire had caused a power outage, so they couldn’t even turn on the fan at home, and the elevator wasn’t working, so they had to go down the stairs and sweat. Also, the refrigerator wasn’t working, so they had to eat at a nearby restaurant.
Kim never expected that there would be so many victims due to the fire. He said he was so embarrassed by his words and wondered what he could do for the victims. “It was heartbreaking to see the families of the victims come to our restaurant and eat bone soup and sundae soup,” he said.
Kim’s shop was a franchise Sundaeguk restaurant headquartered in Seoul, and it was operated by receiving ingredients from the headquarters. He told the head of the headquarters about the evacuees and proposed a plan. It was a free meal service plan for evacuees staying at the community center shelter on Sundays, when the restaurant was closed.
| Support from headquarters and participation from people around you |
“Okay, we’ll provide all the materials, so don’t worry about that.”
Representative Choi Yang-guk expressed his full support for Kim’s plan and said he would not spare any support.
Kim said, “If it weren’t for CEO Choi’s promise of support, I would have had to buy the ingredients to provide free meals separately,” and “I would have felt uneasy because that would have increased the number of volunteers and the financial burden.”
As soon as Kim received the promise of support, he asked for help from people around him. He said that his friend made the guide. In addition, two friends and an employee who gave up their holiday offered to help serve on the day of the service.
Mr. Kim thoroughly trained his two friends on how to serve meals. He said, “I had them serve meals to the evacuees in the same manner as they normally would,” and “If I had shown an insincere attitude, the evacuees who received free meals would have felt uncomfortable and their pride would have been hurt, so the service would not have been carried out properly.”
| More displaced people visit than expected |
Mr. Kim prepared meals for 300 people on the day of service. The reason he planned the service on Sunday, the only day off in the week, was because it was something he could never do on a weekday.
He said, “During weekday lunch and dinner hours, ordinary people eat and pay. If we were to provide free meals only to the evacuees, there could be cases where it would be inconvenient for both parties.” He added, “These plans had to be made in detail, and if we were going to do it roughly, we wouldn’t have even started.”
At lunchtime, the evacuees in the shelter flocked to Kim’s store. “The store can accommodate 50 people, but there was a line outside during lunch that day,” Kim said. “I was surprised that more people showed up than I expected.”
On that day, unlike other weekdays, a lively song was playing at Kim’s restaurant. It was Kim’s attempt to change the gloomy atmosphere and make the meal enjoyable for the evacuees who had gathered together.
The 180 displaced people asked about their neighbors’ well-being while eating a bowl of warm sundae soup instead of a convenience store lunch box for the first time in three days. They looked relieved as they shared about the problems caused by the power outage and water outage and how to deal with them, and the warm soup helped relieve their fatigue.
| Joy in receiving words of gratitude |
Kim said, “Since so many people came to the store at once, it wasn’t cool even with the air conditioner on full blast,” and “We enjoyed serving while sweating, but it was sad to see the evacuees sweating while eating.”
Kim said, “While I was volunteering, I felt a sense of joy when I received words of thanks from the evacuees, saying, ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had a proper meal.’” He added, “Although I started to feel tired and sore when I opened the store the next day, I thought I did a great job.”
Mr. Kim’s free meal provision became known through word of mouth from the online ‘Mom Cafe’ and the evacuees. The next day, the number of customers visiting the shelter increased after learning of his good deed, and it was reported that nearby restaurants were also handing out free meal coupons.
Kim said, “I felt good inside because it seemed like the free meal relay was blowing,” and “I felt like I wanted to support other small business owners even more.”
Kim, not satisfied with this, said he would do separate volunteer work for the evacuees. He said, “I heard that the community center needs volunteers because the power outage has not been resolved yet. So I decided to go to the community center to volunteer starting Wednesday (the 7th). There, I will provide meals to the shelter residents, clean up trash, and do other things like that until the weekend.”
When Kim’s good deed was reported in an article the next day, citizens praised Kim’s actions. However, some netizens responded sarcastically, saying things like, “The evacuees probably have more money than the owner of the Sundae soup restaurant,” and “What’s the point of providing meals to rich people?” and Kim said he was hurt.
Kim expressed regret that public opinion was formed in response to an online posting by a government official dispatched to the disaster area criticizing the extraordinary behavior of some of the evacuees.
“Some inconsiderate people may have complained to the government officials, but it is wrong to lump all the Cheongna evacuees together and criticize them.”
Kim said that most of the evacuees who came to the restaurant expressed their gratitude. He explained, “The evacuees who received the meals felt bad about just leaving, so they bought canned drinks. Everyone who came in gave us coffee and drinks, so later the liquor refrigerator was full of coffee and it was difficult to dispose of it, so we gave it to the evacuees who came in the evening.” Other evacuees also said that they took their dishes to the kitchen return area to help Kim and his group even a little.
Kim concluded the interview by saying, “I am a little tired both physically and mentally, but if I have the chance in the future, I would like to do something that can help the community and its residents.”
■ ‘People who create a warm world’ (Ddamansa) is a story about neighbors who exert a positive influence on our society, such as people who practice sharing through donations and volunteer work, righteous people who spare no effort to help others in crisis, and people who create spaces for the socially disadvantaged. If there is a hidden ‘Ddamansa’ around you, please send an email ([email protected]).
Reporter Choi Jae-ho, Donga.com [email protected]
2024-08-16 06:01:21