Faces of LG Hero Awards: 28 Years of Sewing Volunteer Work and Gifting Baby Jackets to Adopted Children of Single Mothers...

Kim Dosun and Kwak Kyunghee Convey Neighborly Love Through Sewing
Nam Giyeop Awarded for Rescuing Neighbor at Risk of Falling

LG Welfare Foundation announced on the 5th that it awarded the ‘LG Hero Award’ to Kim Dosun (79) and Gwak Gyeonghee (62), who have been volunteering in sewing sharing activities for their neighbors. Nam Giyeop, a firefighter lieutenant (45) who rescued a citizen at risk of falling from a high-rise railing, also received the LG Hero Award.

Since 1996, Kim Dosun has been consistently engaged in various volunteer activities for 28 years, including sewing guidance for students with developmental disabilities, repairs for local elderly and disabled people, and bathing services for the community’s vulnerable.

Kim Do-sun (79), who received the LG Humanity Award, has been engaged in various volunteer activities, including providing sewing guidance to students with developmental disabilities for 28 years.
[Photo by LG]

Despite having a level 3 physical disability that affects her legs, she has continued over 20,000 hours of volunteer work, including more than 1,500 sewing guidance sessions. She volunteers 6 to 7 hours a week teaching sewing to students with disabilities at Seoul Gwangjin School, and also participates in repair services at elderly nursing homes, bathing services at facilities for the disabled, and reception services for elderly haircuts.

Kim said, “There was a time when I was pessimistic about my disability, but through volunteering I found greater happiness,” adding, “I will always remember the time when a student I taught sewing to won an award at the International Paralympic Games a few years ago.”

Made Baby Jackets for Unwed Mothers’ Adopted Children for 19 Years

Gwak Kyung-hee (62) has been making and donating baby jackets for unmarried mothers and adopted children for 19 years.
[Photo by LG]

Gwak Gyeonghee operates the social enterprise ‘Baneulhanttam Cooperative’ and has been personally making and donating baby jackets for adopted children of unwed mothers and burial clothes for elderly living alone for 19 years since 2005.

While volunteering, Gwak saw unwed mothers sending their children up for adoption and began making baby jackets using her over 30 years of experience in making hanbok. She also witnessed elderly people leaving hospital wards without burial clothes, so she learned how to make burial clothes over six months and made them at her own expense to donate. During the COVID-19 period, she also made and donated over 10,000 cotton masks.

Gwak said, “Every moment sewing for sharing is happiness,” and added, “I want to continue sharing my talents as long as I can.”

On September 16, a holiday, Firefighter Lieutenant Nam Giyeop witnessed a woman in her 20s hanging upside down on the balcony railing of a high-rise apartment complex in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do. The woman was bleeding from injuries caused by broken glass and more than half of her body was hanging outside the railing.

Living in the same complex, Nam immediately went up to the 16th floor and rang the doorbell of the apartment, but there was no response. He then got help from a resident on the floor below and climbed up the balcony railing on the 15th floor to reach the upper floor. Grasping the railing, he pushed the woman, who was about to fall, back inside the balcony with one arm, barely saving her life.

Fire Lieutenant Nam Gi-yeop. [Photo by LG Foundation]

Nam said at the time, “Even hours after the situation ended, my heart was still pounding, and looking up at the apartment again gave me a dizzy feeling,” adding, “Looking back, I don’t even remember how I climbed up, but knowing how difficult it is to hold on from the balcony, I thought I had to rescue her no matter what. I’m very relieved that I was able to save a precious life by climbing the railing.”

An LG official said, “We awarded the Hero Award to these two individuals who have long volunteered in sewing for neighbors in need and to the firefighter who risked his life to save a precious life even on his day off, hoping their warm dedication spreads further in our society.”

The LG Hero Award was established in 2015 reflecting the late Chairman Koo Bon-moo’s will that “the company repays socially responsible heroes who sacrifice themselves for social justice.” Since Koo Kwang-mo, CEO of LG Corporation, took office in 2018, the award scope has expanded to include ordinary citizens who quietly serve and perform good deeds for others over a long period throughout society. To date, a total of 217 people have received the LG Hero Award.

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