Seocho-gu Signs Business Agreement for 'Kia Challenge Mentoring' Supporting Low-Income Children and Adolescents

On the 14th, Seocho District Office held a 'Kia Challenge Mentoring' business agreement ceremony... A social contribution project continuously promoted for 8 years since 2013, donating 60 million KRW this year to support the healthy growth and development of low-income children and adolescents

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu (District Mayor Eunhee Jo) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 'Kia Challenge Mentoring' program at 1 PM on the 14th in the small conference room on the 5th floor of the district office, together with Kia Motors, to continuously and stably support the healthy growth and development of low-income children and adolescents in the region and to establish a community care system.

So far, the district and Kia Motors have carried out various sharing projects since starting the Hope Sharing Project in 2013. They have promoted projects such as the 'Youth Mentoring Project' to improve learning abilities and support emotional development for low-income and at-risk children and adolescents in the community, as well as the nutritional basket project for children facing food insecurity and healing camps. Starting with a sponsorship of 60 million KRW in 2013, valuable support has continued every year, with 60 million KRW sponsored this year as well.

In particular, in 2019, the Kia Challenge Mentoring program involved 82 university student mentors who provided mentoring to 81 mentees from low-income families. A new 'Companion Mentoring' program for mentors was also conducted, where university student mentors concerned about employment visited Kia Motors, a global company, and had opportunities to receive career counseling and employment know-how through meetings with Kia Motors executives and employees.

This substantial project implementation achieved the distinction of winning two awards at the '2019 Mentoring Best Practices Contest' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

This year, Kim (last name), who participated as a mentee at the Bangbae Youth Center since 2014, has become a university student and is now active as a university student mentor in the Kia Challenge Mentoring program, providing unforgettable memories and growth opportunities for both mentees and mentors.

The mentoring project is scheduled to run from February to December this year, and through one-on-one pairings between children/adolescents and university student volunteers, various activities such as learning, cultural experiences, and sharing will be conducted together. This will present desirable role models to participating children and adolescents during their growth and development process, provide care services, and offer mentors meaningful volunteer opportunities for self-growth.

Seocho District Mayor Eunhee Jo stated, “We will strive to continuously spread a culture of sharing so that children and adolescents growing up in the community can create dreams and hopes by cooperating with local companies and welfare organizations.”

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