Goheung-gun Eokkaedongmu Volunteer Group Starts New Year at Ho-hyeong Village, Goheung-eup

24 Fields, 65 People, 10-Month 86-Village Touring Volunteer March

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Goheung County (Governor Song Gwi-geun) announced on the 18th that it operated the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Volunteer Group for residents of four villages in Ho-hyeong-ri at Ho-hyeong Village, Goheung-eup.

The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Volunteer Group, which started for the first time in the new year of the Year of the Ox, plans to visit 86 villages in 16 towns and townships at least three times a month from Goheung-eup until the end of November, addressing daily life inconveniences on-site with a one-stop service.

Targeting villages with many elderly living alone or with inconvenient transportation, the group resolves 24 areas directly related to residential safety such as boiler, electricity, and gas inspections, as well as repairs related to residents' daily life including agricultural machinery, home appliances, and insect screens. Approximately 65 volunteers from 16 organizations and groups, including the Beauty Association, participate.

Compared to last year, the number of target villages has more than doubled from 40 to 86. Two new volunteer service areas were added: installing fire detectors to help elderly residents respond quickly in case of house fires, and repainting old gates to improve the aesthetics of village alleys.

Governor Song Gwi-geun, who visited the volunteer site that day, congratulated the launch of the volunteer group, saying, “I am very pleased to start this year’s first volunteer activity on Usui (Rain Water), a solar term meaning ‘snow melts and becomes rain.’ I hope the true spirit of volunteerism will be conveyed to the elderly who always long for human touch.” He also urged, “I hope both volunteers and elderly residents strictly follow quarantine rules and receive various services.”

The elderly who received the volunteer services expressed their gratitude repeatedly, saying, “Due to COVID-19, we stayed at home all this time, but the volunteer group came to our village and gave us acupuncture and full-body massages, which made us very happy.”

On that day, many requests were for insect screen replacement, fire detector installation, and home appliance repairs, as many elderly live alone. High satisfaction was also reported in services such as knife sharpening, oriental medicine treatment, beauty services, and health exercise therapy.

Meanwhile, the next schedule is planned for the 4th of next month at the Naebaek Village Hall in Gwaryeok-myeon, targeting three villages in Baegil-ri.

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