Gwanak-gu - hy (Korea Yakult) Meal Kit Support for Middle-Aged and Elderly Single-Person Households

[Seoul District News] Gwanak-gu to Improve Dietary Habits by Providing Meal Kits to 170 Middle-Aged and Elderly Single-Person Households from March to November; Joint Welfare Planner and Fresh Manager Check-in Service Expected to Prevent Solitary Deaths... Mapo-gu Signs Agreement with KT&G on March 3 to Revitalize Tourist District... Dongdaemun-gu Operates Informatization Library and Dapsimni Library as Metaverse Libraries for Future-Oriented Library Services... Gangseo-gu Raises Record 3.4 Billion Won in Love Donations Despite COVID-19... Nowon-gu Recruits Students for Urban Farmer School

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (District Mayor Park Jun-hee) announced that it will operate the ‘Meal Kit Support Project for Middle-aged and Older Single-person Households’ in cooperation with the hy Gyeongseo Regional Headquarters (Head Lee Won-jun) to address the issue of solitary deaths.

Due to prolonged COVID-19, poverty, unemployment, and lack of welfare services, low-income middle-aged and older single-person households exposed to welfare blind spots will receive customized services through meal kit support and the establishment of a social network system.

On February 24, the district signed an agreement with hy Gyeongseo Regional Headquarters, including systematic division of tasks for securing project funds and building a human safety net. Gwanak-gu will cover about 65% of the total project cost, and hy will sponsor dairy products worth about 35%.

Under this agreement, from March to November, the district will identify 170 high-risk middle-aged and older single-person households in the area and deliver meal kits and fermented milk twice a week for a total of 20 times per recipient. This will improve dietary habits through balanced meals, check on recipients’ well-being, provide customized services according to additional needs, and connect human safety nets.

Additionally, in case of crisis or discovery of households in welfare blind spots, hy Fresh Managers will promptly contact the district welfare planners to respond to emergencies. This joint well-being check service is expected to strengthen the prevention of solitary deaths and the system for discovering households in crisis.

The district plans to expand support policies for single-person households, which have been focused on the elderly, to middle-aged and older groups, concentrating administrative efforts on building a dense human safety net through public-private cooperation.

A district official said, “With the increase in single-person households highlighting various social issues, we thank the hy Gyeongseo Regional Headquarters for their interest and sponsorship in the solitary death prevention project. We will do our best to develop various customized welfare services for single-person households to resolve welfare blind spots.”

Mapo-gu (District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) signed a business agreement with KT&G on the 3rd to revitalize the ‘Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone.’

KT&G, which has continued the tradition of tobacco and red ginseng businesses, transitioned to a private company in 2002 and operates ‘KT&G Sangsangmadang’ near Hongdae (65 Eoulmadang-ro) as a performance and exhibition venue for social contribution.

The agreement ceremony held at Mapo-gu Office was attended by Mapo-gu Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun, KT&G Vice President Lee Sang-hak, and related officials. The event included explanations of the main contents and exchange of the agreement documents.

The main contents include ▲joint project discovery and promotion to revitalize the Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone ▲operation and promotional support of programs to revitalize Hongdae Festival Street ▲providing Hongdae Festival Street as a venue for tourism special zone activation programs.

According to the agreement, the district will provide venues such as the Hongdae Festival Street plaza for performances and exhibitions, while KT&G will discover and nurture local artists to offer cultural and artistic exhibition activities 365 days a year.

Through this, the two organizations plan to promote regional economic revitalization centered on the ‘Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone’ and expand co-growth through social contribution activities supporting local artists.

At the ceremony, Mapo-gu Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said, “We expect the development of the Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone by combining Mapo-gu’s tourism infrastructure with KT&G Sangsangmadang Hongdae’s program execution capabilities and professional personnel. We will also do our best to revitalize the local economy, which has been stagnant, by discovering cultural and artistic content differentiated from other regions.”

As part of the ‘Tourism Industry Promotion through Tourism Infrastructure Expansion’ project, Mapo-gu created the ‘Hongdae Festival Street Plaza’ in June 2020.

Since then, various cultural and artistic activities such as street performances, festivals, and flea markets have been encouraged, and in December last year, it was designated as the nation’s first ‘Mapo Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone.’ It is the seventh tourism special zone in Seoul, following Itaewon, Myeongdong·Namdaemun·Bukchang, Dongdaemun Fashion Town, Jongno·Cheonggye, Jamsil, and Gangnam.

Based on this, the district is set to actively promote specialized projects linked with surrounding areas such as the ‘Tourism Landmark VR Exhibition Hall’ and ‘365 Festival Street in Hongdae,’ as well as pilot operate the ‘Mapo City Tour,’ where tourists can tour major Mapo attractions with a tour guide on a tour bus.

With COVID-19 making non-face-to-face interactions the norm, the ‘Metaverse,’ a virtual space without spatial and temporal constraints where social and cultural activities can be enjoyed, has recently become a trend.

The metaverse world is based on reality but offers the advantage of enabling various activities that cannot be done offline due to its virtual space characteristics.

Dongdaemun-gu (District Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) is keeping pace with this trend by operating Dongdaemun-gu Information Library and Dapsimni Library as ‘Metaverse Libraries’ where residents can enjoy reading culture in the virtual world.

The metaverse libraries of Dongdaemun-gu Information Library and Dapsimni Library can be accessed via the ‘Zepeto’ app on smartphones. Upon entering the library room, the appearance of the real library building is reproduced, and users can experience various library services such as themed shelves specialized in topics like traditional Korean medicine and mental health, recommended book lists, and event news.

Additionally, users can enjoy various contents unique to the metaverse library, such as a maze game zone and park racing along a cherry blossom path.

In the future, the metaverse libraries plan to hold various events to revitalize book culture.

Seo Gyeong-ju, Library Operations Team Leader at Dongdaemun-gu Facilities Management Corporation, said, “The diverse non-face-to-face contents of the metaverse library, which turns imagination into reality, will soothe residents’ minds tired from COVID-19.”

Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol stated, “Dongdaemun-gu will continuously expand various cultural contents with infinite imagination for residents.”

Despite the hardships caused by COVID-19, the warm-heartedness of Gangseo-gu residents who think first of neighbors in greater need remained unchanged.

Seoul Gangseo-gu (District Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced that it successfully concluded the ‘2022 Hope Ondol Warm Winter Project’ by raising the largest amount ever in the district’s history?over 3.4 billion KRW in donations?over three months starting November 15 last year.

The Hope Ondol Warm Winter Project is a fundraising campaign conducted by the district and the Seoul Social Welfare Community Chest to help low-income vulnerable residents spend a warm winter.

From November 15 last year, the district actively conducted fundraising activities and collected a total of 1.2668 billion KRW in cash and 2.18622 billion KRW in goods, totaling 3.45302 billion KRW over three months.

This achievement is 172% of the initial target of 2 billion KRW and about 560 million KRW more than the 2021 project results.

During the project period, the district carried out active promotional activities using online channels such as SNS and YouTube, as well as various fundraising methods including resident donation relays.

As a result, despite the difficult economic situation due to the prolonged COVID-19 crisis, many participants from various sectors including companies, volunteer groups, neighborhood leaders, small business owners, and individual donors were attracted.

In particular, the ‘Love Piggy Bank Coin Collection’ project conducted with the Bank of Korea attracted attention as 125 daycare centers and kindergartens in the area participated, donating about 25 million KRW collected by children’s small hands to pediatric cancer patients.

Also, the newly introduced relay donation method ‘Donation Sharing Bucket Challenge’ saw participation from 238 residents, raising about 190 million KRW.

The district plans to use the total 3.45302 billion KRW in donations and goods collected through the Seoul Social Welfare Community Chest for living expenses, medical expenses, education costs, and more for vulnerable groups in the area.

Individuals and organizations who practiced neighborly love through donations will be awarded commendations and plaques of appreciation.

District Mayor Noh Hyun-song said, “This fundraising project was conducted under more difficult conditions than usual due to the prolonged COVID-19 economic downturn. We thank the residents for their support that made this good result possible, and we will do our best to manage the funds to deliver hope to neighbors in need.”

Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) will operate the 2022 Nowon Ecological Farmer School to help residents tired from daily life heal their body and mind and gain new vitality.

The Farmer School runs annually from March to November. Experienced professional instructors conduct classes, allowing participants to engage in the entire process from sowing to harvesting, gaining valuable information about urban agriculture.

This year’s classes are divided into three: ▲Horticultural Garden School using flowers and herbs (25 people) ▲Specialized course to experience various urban agriculture (40 people) ▲Senior course for residents aged 65 and older (30 people).

First, the horticultural garden course, themed on garden plots, runs every Wednesday from March 30 to November 9, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Gyeongchun Line Forest House and garden plots. Participants learn basic knowledge such as sowing herbs and flowers and making natural fertilizers, as well as applications like making flower tea, herb salt, and herb soap.

Next, the specialized course is designed for residents who want to experience various types of urban agriculture. Classes run every Thursday from March 31 to November 17, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Cheonsu Garden Farm. Participants can experience leafy/fruit vegetables, mushroom substrates, pear orchard management, and home gardening.

Lastly, the senior course is for residents aged 65 and older who want to enjoy healthy leisure through garden plot experiences. It runs every Tuesday from March 29 to November 1, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail garden plots. The course includes leafy/fruit vegetable and kimchi vegetable cultivation, garden management, horticultural therapy programs for health management, and outings.

Those wishing to participate can apply through the Nowon-gu Office website from March 3 until the quota is filled; the senior course also accepts applications by phone. Tuition fees are 50,000 KRW for horticultural garden and specialized courses, and 20,000 KRW for the senior course. Up to 20% of the tuition can be paid with Nowon local currency (NW), which can be earned through volunteering, donations, and local activities.

Schedules and instructors may change due to circumstances. Curriculum details and tuition refund policies are available on the Nowon-gu Office website. For other inquiries, contact the Nowon-gu Office Leisure City Division.

Additionally, the district conducts various projects such as urban beekeeping school, urban garden plots, and box garden plot rentals to encourage healthy leisure and promote urban agriculture.

Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “As interest in eco-friendly food grows, the number of urban farmers cultivating weekend farms or shared garden plots is increasing daily. We hope residents enjoy growing healthy food, sharing it with neighbors, and experiencing the healing and relaxation nature provides through the Farmer School.”

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