Three student entrepreneurs won a collective $2,500 for their business ideas before Thanksgiving.

AACC student Nickie Lambert won the $1,000 first-place prize in the AACC Entrepreneurial Studies Institute’s Big Idea Pitch, beating three other contestants. Her idea is for a nonprofit business called WeFi that will refurbish and donate wifi hotspots to low-income homes.

In a video explaining her idea, Lambert said the pandemic has “thrown many households into financial hardship and made public wifi unsafe, unwise or unavailable. … So if we can get people online at home, we can give them the world.”

Lambert also won $250 for the contest’s Community Big Idea Award, which judges give to a candidate whose idea could benefit the community.

Second place went to student Lauryn Damron, who won $750 to put toward a business called Snapdragon Paws, which is a pet apparel boutique that will donate $1 of every sale to local animal shelters to help them care for homeless animals. Her prize included $250 for an award called “Fan Favorite,” determined by an online poll of the AACC community.

Third-place winner Mary Smith took home $250 to help start a business called Drawing In Nature, which will host nature workshops at community gardens. Clients will relax by sketching plants and animals .

“Just spending time in nature has been shown to reduce stress and boost immune function,” Smith said in a prerecorded video.

“The idea [of the event] was to inspire students with big ideas to share them and gain practice,” Stephanie Goldenberg, the Institute’s academic chair, said.

Student entrepreneurs will compete for cash prizes in ESI’s Big Pitch competition in the spring,