Providing Food Ingredients to Vulnerable Groups... Incheon Yeonsu-gu Expands 'Village Sharing Refrigerator' to 5 Neighborhoods

The 'Yeonsu Village Sharing Refrigerator,' voluntarily initiated by the community social security council at the dong level, is providing great support to vulnerable groups in welfare blind spots.
[Photo by Yeonsu-gu, Incheon]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Yeonsu-gu, Incheon is expanding the operation of the 'Yeonsu Village Sharing Refrigerator,' which allows vulnerable groups struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic to take necessary food ingredients such as kimchi, vegetables, fruits, and grains for free.

According to the district on the 16th, after expanding operations to Yeonsu 1-dong and Yeonsu 2-dong on the 9th, the Yeonsu Village Sharing Refrigerator will also be available in Songdo 1-dong from the 22nd and Seonhak-dong from the 29th.

The sharing refrigerator began in March when the Okryeon 2-dong Community Security Council installed a sharing refrigerator at the Dong Administrative Welfare Center in cooperation with food banks and others to help neighbors in need.

From March to May, a total of 746 people from vulnerable groups such as the elderly and middle-aged single-person households took necessary food ingredients directly from the Okryeon 2-dong Administrative Welfare Center.

Based on the three-month pilot operation results in Okryeon 2-dong, Yeonsu-gu decided to add four more locations starting this month and began installing sharing refrigerators in each dong by gathering sponsors from the 3rd.

Yeonsu 1-dong and 2-dong have been operating the sharing refrigerators since the 9th with support from restaurants and individual donors such as Bareun F&B, Incheon Urban Corporation, Arisanchai, Junggukgwan, and Woosung Banchan. Yeonsu 1-dong operates twice a month (every other Thursday), and Yeonsu 2-dong operates four times a month (every Thursday).

From the 22nd, Songdo 1-dong will operate the sharing refrigerator every other Wednesday with support from Bareun F&B and Haengun Mart, and on the 29th, Seonhak-dong will open with support from the Korea Racing Authority Yeonsu Branch, adding a total of four more locations.

The district strictly manages hygiene and safety of donated items and limits donated processed foods to those labeled according to food manufacturing and processing standards from food manufacturing facilities.

Cooked foods are also limited to those prepared at food service establishments with labels indicating preparation date and storage methods, and livestock products are accepted only if vacuum-packed with date labels.

A Yeonsu-gu official said, "Despite the COVID-19 situation, large and small acts of sponsorship to care for and share with neighbors continue," adding, "We hope the Yeonsu Village Sharing Refrigerator, voluntarily started by the community security councils at the dong level, will be a support to neighbors in welfare blind spots."

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