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Gumi Scholarship Foundation Holds Scholarship Fund Donation and Certificate Award Ceremony

The Gumi Scholarship Foundation in North Gyeongsang Province held a scholarship fund donation and scholarship certificate awarding ceremony on the 19th at the City Hall’s main conference room, attended by Deputy Mayor Kim Hoseop, foundation board members, scholarship fund donors, principals of designated schools for the academic excellence project, and representatives of scholarship recipients?totaling about 50 participants.

Scholarship Fund Donation and Scholarship Certificate Award Ceremony.

◆ Gumi’s future talents nurtured with citizens’ interest and support

Ko Joonghwan, chairman of Geumseong Bed and a Gumi-born entrepreneur who has practiced community love by returning corporate profits to the region, generously donated 100 million won in scholarship funds, expressing his hope that young people from his hometown can freely pursue their dreams and grow into key contributors to the community. He was inducted into the Gumi Scholarship Foundation’s President’s Honor Club (for donors of 100 million won or more).

Chairman Ko Jungwhan of Geumseong Bed, who generously donated a 100 million won scholarship fund (right), is taking a commemorative photo with Kim Jangho, mayor of Gumi.

▲ The iM Bank Gyeongbuk Western Headquarters (Head Lee Kyungjae), which has grown from a leading local bank in Daegu and North Gyeongsang to a nationwide commercial bank, donated 20 million won ▲ The Daeguhoe (President Lee Munho), a golf club of business clients from iM Bank’s Gumi Branch, donated 2 million won ▲ Jo Joongrae, a member of the Gyeongbuk Honor Society (Gumi No. 7) and a foundation director, as well as CEO of Juwangsan Samgyetang, donated 1 million won ▲ The Gumi Businessmen’s Association (President Jang Namsook) donated 4.2 million won ▲ Choi Sugil, CEO of Siloam Farm, who has been donating every year since 2011, contributed 5 million won.

Additionally, the Gumi Academy Association (President Choi Junggeun) donated 1 million won, Hanjong Industrial Development (CEO Lee Jaewan), a company specializing in environmental facility management and plant construction and the operator of Gumi’s environmental resource facility, donated 10 million won, and Jeong Kisang, a director of Gumi Cultural Center who is now active as a poet and essayist after 40 years in education, donated 20 million won to commemorate his wife Park Chunhee’s retirement as principal of Doryang Elementary School, all contributing to nurturing Gumi’s future talents.

◆ Strengthening Gumi’s educational capacity by supporting local talents and excellent schools

In line with the 2024 scholarship selection plan, which focuses on expanding and improving a scholarship system centered on local talents, the foundation selected 317 students in 13 categories through document screening and scholarship committee deliberation, awarding a total of 360 million won in scholarships. Scholarship certificates were presented to 13 representative recipients, and their opinions on Gumi’s education and scholarship programs were heard.

To help local university students settle stably in the region, a new “Local University Development Scholarship (Freshman)” was established for freshmen who graduated from local high schools and entered local universities, selecting 59 local talents. The number of existing local university development scholarship recipients (current students) was increased by 20 from the previous year to 60, resulting in a total of 119 students receiving 1 million won each, totaling 119 million won in scholarships.

Furthermore, four schools (Gumi High School, Gumi Sandong High School, Gyeonggu High School, and Hyeonil High School) selected for the “Gumi Academic Excellence Project,” which aims to foster excellent local schools and improve academic achievement, were awarded certificates designating them as key academic excellence schools. From 2024 to 2026, each school will receive 200 million won per year, totaling 800 million won, to support the development and operation of customized programs for academic enhancement and increased university admission rates. Annual evaluations will be conducted, and the Gumi Scholarship Foundation plans to provide incentives for outstanding teachers at selected excellent schools for three years.

Since its establishment in 2008, the “Gumi Scholarship Foundation” has raised a total of 33.1 billion won in scholarship funds with the support and interest of citizens, and from 2011 to this year, has awarded a total of 4.125 billion won in scholarships to 2,574 students over 14 rounds, playing a pivotal role in nurturing talents to lead Gumi’s future.

Mayor Kim Jangho said, “To create a foundation for local talents to settle stably in the region, we will shift the main focus of our scholarship program from academic excellence to local talent. We will also discover and promote regionally specialized educational policy projects in connection with the ‘Gumi Education Development Special Zone’ designated last February, accelerating efforts to strengthen local educational capacity and secure diversity.”

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