SK General Chemicals-SK Lubricants, 'Sharing a Warm Meal Ontact' Volunteer Activity

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and strengthened social distancing measures, welfare centers have been closed, and participation in sponsorships and volunteer activities has sharply declined, exacerbating the food insecurity and care crises among vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone and homeless people. SK Innovation subsidiaries SK General Chemical and SK Lubricants have recognized this situation as a serious social issue and launched the "One Meal Sharing On(tact) Project."

Na Kyung-soo, President of SK General Chemical, and Cha Kyu-tak, President of SK Lubricants, along with their team members, carried out the "SK Innovation Group One Meal Sharing Ontact" volunteer activity to support elderly living alone who are immobile and at risk of food insecurity. They personally visited a total of 59 elderly households, delivering lunchboxes filled with warm hearts, as well as masks, nuts, and snacks prepared separately, sharing happiness and warmth. Moreover, the lunchboxes delivered this time were made more meaningful by purchasing ingredients from local markets and having small local restaurants prepare the meals, thereby supporting local small business owners facing management crises due to COVID-19.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated in his New Year's letter earlier this year that "a 'new entrepreneurial spirit' that empathizes with society and works together to solve problems is needed." This is to establish a strong support foundation so that the most vulnerable parts of society do not collapse first during unprecedented crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2016, SK General Chemical has been continuously conducting volunteer activities through its employee volunteer program "Sharing Happiness, Connecting Love," forming partnerships with elderly living alone residing in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.

On the morning of the day, President Na and the team visited the Seodaemun Senior Welfare Center before the main volunteer activities to review the necessity and precautions of this volunteer work. Then, due to COVID-19 prevention measures and the difficulty of having long conversations with elderly living alone, they carefully wrote heartfelt handwritten letters, one by one, conveying sincere feelings that are hard to express verbally.

SK General Chemical employees, who had not been able to visit elderly households directly for over a year due to the shift to untact volunteer activities amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, showed great excitement ahead of their meeting with the elderly. They headed to the elderly households carrying lunchboxes consisting of side dishes and special meals filled with warmth, handwritten letters, masks, and snacks made from Korean rice specially prepared by SK General Chemical for the elderly living alone.

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