On April 29, 2020 three finalist participated in the virtual event and pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to our judges. Nancy Preston was awarded the top prize of $30,000 for her business—Milk Money Kitchens, an Impact Entrepreneurship in Manhattan that creates small food business owners and further develops them into food CEOs.
The other two finalists Donald Todd and Cristina and Robert Moore, were also each awarded $10,000 business grants. You can read about all three amazing entrepreneurs below.
Bob Evans himself, was a veteran. His entrepreneurial spirit led to the founding of his successful businesses. We are proud to honor him and support all who have served through the United States Armed Forces.
Born in South Korea and adopted, Nancy immigrated to the US with her new family to live in NYC. With a language barrier, Nancy’s mother worked many kitchen jobs all over town and sold kimchi and fried dumplings in church parking lots trying to make ends meet. Through her cooking, Nancy learned the power that can come from cooking and food entrepreneurship, which inspired Milk Money Kitchens today.
Nancy is a former US Army engineer turned founder and CEO of Milk Money Kitchens Inc. – a co-work commercial kitchen company where food entrepreneurs can rent a kitchen and launch or scale a business with less risk and more opportunities to succeed. Milk Money Kitchens is an Impact Entrepreneurship in Manhattan that creates small food business owners and further develops them into food CEOs. All of these efforts are to boost socio-economic mobility and create measurable economic value through food entrepreneurship.
Cristina and Robert Moore have dedicated their lives to public service. With more than 23 years of military service each, they have many accomplishments that they are proud of. These include being a combat veteran of the Iraq War, receiving several graduate degrees, and being a combat veteran in Desert Storm and Afghanistan and much more.
Co-owned by husband and wife, Robert and Cristina Moore, Bronze Star Homes has developed a modular ramp for homes that will soon be sold through commercial outlets. The company is working toward their next goal of creating tiny homes for veterans and getting state certification for their designs and construction.
Donald Todd, Baby So Right
Baby So Right is a patented pacifier protection system created with baby safety and parent convenience in mind.
What makes Baby So Right unique is that it is the world’s first retracting pacifier holder that safely pulls dropped pacifiers into a holder before they ever touch the ground. It prevents contamination from germs and lost pacifiers.
Baby So Right was founded by a veteran with the goal of helping military spouses with small children manage a busy family schedule and prevent lost pacifiers.
The founder partnered with fellow Veterans who were dedicated to owning and operating their own business. This Veteran-owned business highlights the qualities and skills that service members possess, such as leadership, courage, and commitment to serving.
Baby So Right saves parents from the hassle of constantly having to stop what they’re doing to pick up and clean dropped pacifiers. Stop the drop with Baby So Right auto-retracting pacifier holders.
“Our mission is to create cutting-edge technological products that are safe and functional for making an impact in the quality of life of babies and small children.”
Jonathan Norton, Peak Safety Systems
Mission Statement: The mission of Peak Safety Systems, LLC is to create and deploy the best safety products to our military and first responders that inspire confidence and "protect those who protect us".
James Reynolds, BeneFIT Medical Apparel
Mission Statement: BeneFIT Medical Apparel develops and distributes athletically engineered medical scrubs, which were designed to bring better quality and better functioning scrubs.
Jessica Harris, K9 Salute
Mission Statement: K9 Salute makes all-natural, wholesome dog treats. Each bag of treats honors a fallen police K-9. A portion of each sale goes to a designated K-9 or veteran organization that assists in the purchase of protective vests for police K-9's and to help veterans get service dogs.
Oliver Noteware, Street Smarts VR
Mission Statement: Street Smarts VR provides immersive virtual reality simulations for reality-based training of law enforcement and public safety personnel. Their mission is to improve policing outcomes and officer safety.
Charlynda Scales, Mutt's Sauce
Mission Statement: Growing up, this Air Force veteran used her grandfather's homemade sauce on everything. She took his amazing recipe and created Mutt's Sauce, an all-purpose condiment perfect for every dish.
Jerry Martin, Vet Veggies
Mission Statement: This Vietnam veteran took his love of veggies and veterans and combined them into a business. Vet Veggies goal is to provide veterans with an opportunity to start their own sustainable hydroponic vegetable business.
Carson Goodale, FanFood
Mission Statement: This Army veteran had a dream in college: create a way for fans to get food in their seats without braving the lines. Thanks to his hard work and vision, FanFood was born.