One in Four Songpa Residents Volunteering... Oldest Volunteer is an 88-Year-Old Senior

Over 160,000 Registered Volunteers in Songpa-gu... 25% of 660,000 Residents, Averaging a Full Day of Service
Oldest Volunteer 88 Years Old, Maximum Hours 24,500, 47 Volunteers Over 10,000 Hours... 26 Years of Continuous Service
‘Volunteer Day’ Ceremony on December 5 at 3 PM at the Community Center... 536 Awardees

Seogangseok, Mayor of Songpa District, is greeting attendees at the Volunteer Organization Leaders' Meeting held on March 2nd this year.

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced on the 4th that one in four residents is practicing love for their neighbors through volunteering in various parts of the district.

As of October 31, according to the registration status on the ‘1365 Volunteer Portal,’ the number of registered volunteers in Songpa-gu was 160,074, accounting for 24.4% of the total population of 655,300 in the district.

The oldest volunteer was 88 years old (born in 1935), and the youngest volunteer was 3 years old (born in 2020), showing a wide range of volunteer age groups.

The average annual volunteer hours per registered person was 24 hours. This means that each person dedicated a full day of their personal time to volunteering.

The maximum volunteer hours recorded were 24,489 hours, with 7 volunteers contributing over 20,000 hours and 47 volunteers contributing over 10,000 hours. This reflects the high interest and continuous commitment of the residents toward volunteering.

On December 5 at 3 p.m., the district will hold a commemorative ceremony at the Songpa-gu Citizens’ Hall, hosted by the Songpa-gu Volunteer Center, inviting volunteers and residents to celebrate ‘Volunteer Day.’

Notably, this year, the four recipients of the Pine Tree Gold Award for volunteering over 10,000 hours each come from different fields of activity, adding special significance.

Ms. Park Soon-hee (70) has been continuously active for 26 years since the volunteer center opened in 1996. A former teacher, she personally developed programs for students under social service orders, which led her to volunteering. Now, she is truly a ‘volunteering veteran,’ even participating in developing volunteer education for residents.

She said, “Through volunteering, I have met school youth, out-of-school youth, and incarcerated youth, and each time I realized how important the role of adults is,” adding, “If residents of Songpa-gu with diverse backgrounds and knowledge participate more actively in volunteering, it will set a good example for the youth.”

In addition to Ms. Park, ▲ Mr. Shin Gi-seon (71) has devoted himself to creating an environment where nature and residents can live harmoniously through wildfire prevention activities and cleaning the Seoul Dulle-gil trail; ▲ Mr. Yoon Jeong-seop (66) has supported healthy lives for the elderly by preparing and delivering side dishes to elderly living alone and improving recreational culture at senior centers; ▲ Ms. Hong Soo-hee (52) has dedicated herself to future generations through activities such as Saemaeul Library work, youth volunteer education, and guiding volunteer groups.

Furthermore, at the ceremony, the district plans to award 536 residents in five categories including the Pine Tree Silver Award (5,000 hours), Pine Tree Bronze Award (1,000 hours), and Forsythia Award (200 hours), expressing gratitude for their love of neighbors.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “Volunteering comes not from time or circumstances, but from genuine affection for the community and neighbors,” and added, “I express my gratitude to the volunteers who steadily practice sharing in unseen places, and we will continue to build an inclusive city Songpa without exclusion so that their efforts will not be in vain.”

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