Huang Nina
Northwest Asia Weekly
Claire Sumadiwirya, owner of Bellden Cafe (Photo courtesy of Claire Sumadiwirya)
A moment of kindness from a stranger prompted Claire Sumadiwirya, the mother of three children, to open a goal-oriented cafe.
Sumadiwirya opened Belden Café four years ago with a community-centric mission. The mission of this cafe is simple: to build a community through food, drink and kindness.
Sumadiwirya is from Shanghai and moved to Bellevue at the age of 12. She graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in sociology and finance, and received an MBA from Seattle University.
When Sumadiwirya and her family lived in Shanghai, her eldest son fell ill and they had to be hospitalized.
Hospitals in Asia and Europe did not always have cafes like the US, so she found herself very lonely, lacking sleep, and very hungry, but a generous janitor in the hospital took care of her and bought her coffee.
Send a cup of kindness
Belden Cafe (Photo courtesy of Claire Sumadiwirya)
When they moved back to Bellevue’s home, she was motivated to open a cafe and donate as much as possible to charity.
The little boy in the cafe logo is Sumadiwirya’s son because he is the reason she was inspired to treat others well.
She chose Bellevue as her café location because it was a place where she was immediately welcomed.
“I feel like Bellevue. Although it looks rich and clean, there are still many needs that people don’t see or realize,” she said.
This cafe works with various charities and community partners, including Overlake Hospital Foundation, Visit Bellevue, Bellevue Downtown Association and Jubilee Reach.
Sumadiwirya said that the cafe offers drinks customized for different charities and their missions. For example, Home for the Holidays is a beverage made from condensed milk, cloves and cinnamon.
“Literally, it tastes like Christmas. Our idea is that when people are in the hospital, we want them to feel cared for,” she said.
Another example is the Vision House drink called Springtime Latte, which is made of lemon, lavender and honey. This is to give people a second chance to renew a better future.
Twenty-five percent of sales will be donated to their respective charities. Most importantly, 10% of the proceeds will also be donated to various charities.
In addition to drinks, the cafe also serves acai bowls, avocado toast and other delicious seasonal refreshments.
Persevere in challenging times
At the height of the pandemic in March 2020, the cafe lost 90% of its sales, and Sumadiwirya believes she will have to close her business permanently. She told her team that they might have to close, but they will close by helping as many people as possible. The cafe organized fundraising events such as diapers and food, and even hosted vendors to sell in the cafe to help support the community.
She wants to turn challenges into positive moments to help others. But fortunately, they persisted and continued to remain open to serve the community.
Growth opportunity
Laura Clise of The Intentionalist contacted Sumadiwirya and told her about Comcast RISE’s grants for small business owners.
At first, Sumadiwirya was hesitant to apply because she didn’t want to take this opportunity from others.
However, she recently received some hate emails that changed her mind. She described this as a very cruel email directed at her because she is an Asian woman. The police even intervened.
She reflected on the matter and decided that she needed to turn this into a positive situation. Many immigrant business owners face similar challenges during the pandemic, and she knows that silence is not enough.
Sumadiwirya decides to apply for a grant and believes that if she gets a grant, she will use the funds to help create a training and education program to support other minority business owners.
“Through this pandemic, we have seen a lot. I saw extreme kindness from customers, and then extreme hatred and disrespect from that email. I just want to support the community.”
Sumadiwirya describes Bellden Cafe as a very safe environment and her team strives to build positive team morale and ethics. She currently has about 15 employees. She also paid them for up to eight hours of voluntary service per month.
With a grant of US$10,000, Sumadiwirya hopes to create more training programs for her team and amplify the power of the donation.
Currently, she plans to provide internship opportunities for sex trade survivors to help them develop skills and enter the workplace more confidently.
“With this grant, I hope to reinvest in the community to do better, because there are many marginalized groups out there that can benefit from it,” Sumadiwirya said.
In the next few years, she also hopes to expand her team and business so that they can continue to donate to charities and find solutions to major problems such as homelessness in local communities.
Nina can be at info@nwasianweekly.com.
