Goheung-gun Selects Recipients for the 1st 'Marianne·Margaret Volunteer Award'

Kang Sunhwa, President of the Overseas Korean Nurses Association, Selected for Nursing Sector, Park Heeseong, Former Principal of Seoseok High School, for Volunteer Sector
Volunteers Honored for Lifetime Service of Marianne and Margaret, Award Ceremony

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Song Gwi-geun) announced on the 5th that on the 30th of last month, the first ‘Marianne and Margaret Volunteer Award’ recipients were selected as Kang Sun-hwa, President of the Overseas Korean Nurses Association, in the nursing category, and Park Hee-sung, former principal of Seoseok High School, in the volunteer category.

The inaugural ‘Marianne and Margaret Volunteer Award’ was established to discover volunteers who inherit the noble spirit of Marianne and Margaret, who served Hansen’s disease patients on Sorokdo Island for over 43 years, and to contribute to the spread of community consciousness of living together. One person is selected in each category?nursing and volunteering?and awarded a certificate along with a prize of 10 million KRW.

Kang Sun-hwa, selected as the nursing category awardee, has served as president of the Korean Nurses Association in Arizona, USA, since 2012, actively promoting flu vaccination events for Koreans and volunteering to support medical care for minorities in the United States.

Park Hee-sung, former principal of Seoseok High School in Gwangju Metropolitan City, served in education for 38 years, establishing student volunteer groups and parent guidance volunteer groups, promoting volunteer activities for 22 years. His contributions to activating volunteer activities, including blood donation certificate donation campaigns (19 years), Sorokdo volunteer experience days (20 years), and overseas volunteer work in the Philippines (4 years), were highly praised.

Jeong Ha-yong, Deputy Governor of Goheung-gun, who participated in the judging, said, “Our county, to honor the volunteer spirit of Marianne and Margaret, recommended them as Nobel Peace Prize candidates last year through the ‘Marianne-Margaret Nobel Peace Prize Recommendation National Committee’ and has been promoting various commemorative projects such as operating the Sharing Training Center with the ‘Marianne and Margaret Association.’ This year, for the first time, we created the Volunteer Award, and I believe this will help spread their noble spirit.” He added, “We will continue to strive to widely publicize the volunteer spirit of Marianne and Margaret and encourage many people to carry on their legacy.”

Meanwhile, to select recipients worthy of the lifelong volunteer spirit of the two, the county began revising ordinances in December last year and collected candidates nationwide through local governments, volunteer centers, and public medical institutions for 45 days starting in March.

Additionally, to ensure professionalism and fairness in judging, judges were recommended from the Korea Volunteer Center Association, the Korean Nurses Association, and local universities. The ‘Marianne and Margaret Commemoration Project Promotion Committee’ was formed with members from the Marianne and Margaret Association, county council members, and journalists, conducting the judging process twice.

The award ceremony for the first Marianne and Margaret Volunteer Award recipients is scheduled to be held in September, carrying the hope for Marianne and Margaret’s Nobel Peace Prize award.

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