Insook Baik (, born ) is a South Korean-born American gas station owner from Anchorage, Alaska. She is known for giving out free meals on Thanksgiving to residents of Mountain View. In 2022, the Insook Baik Bridge was named after her.

Life

Insook Baik was born in 1950 or 1951 in South Korea. She is from

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

. She grew up in the aftermath of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and often did not have enough to eat. She immigrated to the United States in 1980, first settling in New York before moving to Anchorage, Alaska, in 1981. Sometime after, she became the owner two Shell gas stations: one in the neighborhood of Mountain View, and one in Midtown. Inspired by her childhood memories of hunger and the number of immigrants in Mountain View with similar stories to hers, Baik began giving out free Thanksgiving meals from her Mountain View station in the late 2000's. She is assisted by her son and volunteers. In 2016, she prepared and gave out approximately 600 meals. By 2021, that number had grown to around 900. In 2022, Baik was recognized at that years Korean-Anchorage Friendship day and had commorative photos taken by the South Korean consulate in Anchorage.

Insook Baik Bridge

In 2007, to replace a pedestrian bridge spanning the

Glenn Highway The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a ...

, the State of Alaska began work on a road bridge that would allow Bragaw Street to cross over the highway. The plans included covered steps and a tunnel for pedestrians, and a set of bike paths. Work finished in 2008. In 2022,

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

member Geran Tarr, introduced a bill, House Bill 359, to name the bridge after Baik. It passed as part of Senate Bill 203 in August 2022, and the city set aside $7,000 to erect a sign and hold a naming ceremony. Initially, Baik resisted the bridge's name, but consented after her son persuaded her that it would "raise the status of Koreans". The bridge is the first American bridge named after a Korean person.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baik, Insook 1950s births People from Busan People from Anchorage, Alaska South Korean emigrants to the United States Living people 21st-century American businesspeople