He wants to snip away at poverty.
A Flushing man who gave away free bowls of soup to the poor at a Korean restaurant last month now has his sights set on the barber’s chair as a way to help out Queens’ neediest.
Jin Kim, 38, is working with a local pharmacy to hand out free meds and Queens barbershops to offer gratis haircuts.
“Not only me, a lot of people need help,” said Kim, a Korean-American immigrant and John Jay College graduate student who got the idea to start a charity when he first arrived in Queens 12 years ago and struggled to survive. “I think some people have more. Maybe they will share a little bit and help everyone. I want to be the connection.”
Lewis Pharmacy on Roosevelt Ave. in Flushing will carry free packages with cold and digestion medication, bandages and first-aid ointment starting March 24, Kim told The News.
“Every time they have a cold or a stomachache, they can stop by and pick up the packages,” said Kim.
Meanwhile, in April, a program in which good Samaritans can pay in advance for others’ free trims will launch at participating barbershops throughout Queens. The new ‘dos will help the unemployed find work, says Kim.
Local advocates welcomed Kim’s efforts. The Korean Community Services already offers free haircuts each month at two senior centers and executive director Linda Lee said she hopes to work with Kim in the future.
Kim launched his charity by gathering enough donations to fund 250 bowls of free Korean “Guk-Bab” soup for homeless and elderly people in the last two weeks of February. Local restaurant Parksanbal Babs served up the tasty meat and rice dish and Kim’s flyers now adorn the restaurant.
“It would be beneficial to him to see what other groups are doing that are similar to him, so he can partner and not have to reinvent the wheel,” said Lee.
The 9.1% unemployment rate in Flushing, where Kim and his wife run the nonprofit out of their apartment, is higher than Queens’ overall 6.7% rate, according to census data and the latest state employment report.
“In a city where poverty is on the rise, you have to appreciate the effort of anyone who is taking it upon themselves to make a difference,” said Jeff Maclin of the Community Service Society, a poverty research and advocacy group.
