Gwangyang Steelworks Friends Volunteer Group Lends a Hand to Sister Village

120 Participants Over 3 Days... Approximately 16 Tons of Persimmons and Kiwis to Be Harvested

Helping Elderly and Single-Person Households with Labor Shortage to Preserve Marketability

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks Friends Volunteer Group (Leader Choi Chang-rok) rolled up their sleeves on the 9th to assist elderly and single elderly farmers in Seomgeo Village, which is struggling with labor shortages during the busy farming season.

The volunteer activity to help with farm work during the busy season is scheduled to take place over three days, with about 120 volunteers participating. This is their second visit following the first on the 29th of last month.

Members of the Gwangyang Steelworks Friends Volunteer Group visited a total of 10 single elderly and elderly households, working hard to harvest and sort persimmons and kiwis.

Despite the rather chilly weather, they carried the harvesting tools they had prepared up to the farms located on the ridges, working diligently to ensure that the dedication the elders put into their crops throughout the year would not go to waste by actively harvesting persimmons and kiwis.

By this day, they had harvested about 10 tons (440 boxes) of persimmons and kiwis, and they plan to harvest a total of 16 tons by the final third day.

The significance of this Friends Volunteer Group’s farm work assistance lies in helping Seomgeo Village farmers, who could not harvest on time due to labor shortages despite a bountiful persimmon harvest, to maintain the marketability of their produce.

Park Tae-hee, a manager at Gwangyang Steelworks who participated in the volunteer activity, said, “I was assigned to help with fruit harvesting at single elderly households, and many expressed concerns about missing the harvest period,” adding, “Seeing the elders’ faces brighten with our small help was very meaningful and rewarding.”

Kim Bok-gyu, head of Seomgeo Village, said, “These days, rural areas are facing increasing labor outflow problems, and especially single elderly or elderly households suffer from severe labor shortages, making it impossible to harvest,” and expressed gratitude, “We thank the Gwangyang Steelworks Friends Volunteer Group for readily accepting our village’s request and extending a helping hand in this situation.”

Meanwhile, the Friends Volunteer Group, composed of Gwangyang Steelworks employees, has been delivering warm hearts to neighbors in need through various activities since 2019, such as purchasing local agricultural products through the ‘Local Agricultural Products Sharing Project’ and delivering homemade kimchi directly to elderly residents in need.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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