Grandmother Who Cooked Red Bean Porridge for 40 Years and Donated 1.2 Billion Won Wins Kolon Group Ujeong Good Deeds Award

Ms. Kim Eun-sook, recipient of the Grand Prize at the 20th Friendship and Good Deeds Awards

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] On the 28th, Kolon Group's Oun Cultural Foundation announced the recipient of the 20th Ujeong Good Deeds Award. This year's grand prize was awarded to Kim Eun-sook (81), who has been running a red bean porridge restaurant and has donated over 1.2 billion won over more than 40 years. She is the oldest recipient among all previous grand prize winners of the Ujeong Good Deeds Award.

Ms. Kim started her sharing by opening a red bean porridge restaurant called 'Seoul Second Best Place' in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, in 1976, and providing scholarships to students in difficult circumstances nearby. Despite the pain of her daughter suffering from the same mental illness as her biological mother, she practiced sharing and composed her heart. Since 2009, she had been donating 500,000 won monthly to the Community Chest of Korea, gradually increasing the donation amount to 3 million won per month over the years. Last year, she sold an apartment inherited from her late husband and donated 900 million won, bringing her total donations to well over 1.2 billion won.

Among this, 200 million won was designated and entrusted to Seoul Eunpyeong Hospital, where her daughter receives treatment, to be used for adult mental illness patients who are unable to receive timely treatment due to financial difficulties. More than 40% of the hospital's inpatients are from vulnerable groups, and thanks to Ms. Kim's donation, 65 patients were supported with about 65 million won last year. Separately, she has consistently shared snacks twice a month with patients without guardians, understanding the difficult feelings of other patients and their guardians better than anyone else, supporting them with a family-like heart.

The Oun Cultural Foundation said, "Even if one has income, it is difficult to donate, and it is even more difficult not to inherit the husband's legacy to the children but to donate it all, yet Ms. Kim humbly says she 'just did what she had to do.' We naturally bowed our heads before her." They added, "Rather than despairing over her painful personal history, Ms. Kim's good deeds, which send comfort and encouragement to those more suffering than herself through sharing, resonate deeply and serve as a great example in our increasingly harsh society."

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