Donated 26,910 Books Over 5 Years... Park Myeongseok, GS25 Store Owner

Park Myung-seok, the owner of GS25 Kim Dae-jung Center store, who donated 26,910 books and was selected as the all-time top donor of GS Retail's 'Book Dream Campaign,' is smiling while holding books. (Photo by GS Retail)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] There is a person who has donated over 26,000 books to underprivileged groups over the past five years. The protagonist is Park Myeongseok, the manager operating the GS25 Kim Daejung Center branch in Seo-gu, Gwangju, Jeollado.

Manager Park first donated 550 books in 2015 through GS Retail's 'Book Dream' campaign. Since then, the number of donated books gradually increased to 2,550 in 2016, 3,600 in 2017, and 12,100 in 2018. Last year, he donated 10,000 books, bringing the total to 26,910 books donated over the past five years. Park was selected as the top donor in the history of the GS Retail Book Dream campaign.

GS Retail launched the Book Dream campaign in 2011. It is a social contribution activity designed to collect books sleeping on bookshelves and donate them to social contribution organizations so that they can be delivered to children and adolescents in need. As of the end of last year, a total of 117,840 books have been donated through the Book Dream campaign, and the social contribution organization 'Thanks Give' estimated the value at 4,700 KRW per book, totaling approximately 553.84 million KRW.

The books donated by Manager Park through the Book Dream campaign were delivered to Thanks Give. Thanks Give has supported the establishment of about 20 small libraries and small study rooms nationwide, as well as multicultural centers, for low-income children and adolescents both domestically and abroad.

Manager Park said, "The Book Dream campaign is especially meaningful because I can personally feel that by purchasing and delivering books, I am giving children dreams and hope while recalling my difficult childhood." He added, "I hope the few books I deliver become dreams and hope for neighbors in need, and I will continue my sharing activities steadily in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.