Seocho-gu Hosts Seoul's First 'Visiting Awards Ceremony' Volunteer Festival

The 15th Volunteer Festival Opens as Seoul's First 'Visiting Award Ceremony for One Person' in Autonomous Districts... Awards Presented On-site During 2-Week Mini Concerts, Emotional Moments Captured on Video to Be Released on YouTube Channel on December 1... A Total of 27 Awards Selected from Recommendations by Welfare Centers and Public Institutions for ▲Face Mask Production and Distribution Volunteer Activities ▲Cultural and Artistic Talent Donations ▲Youth Mentoring Participants

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Jo) will unveil the volunteer festival "2020 Seocho V Festival" on December 1st through its YouTube channel in celebration of the International Volunteer Day designated by the UN.

Notably, this Seocho V Festival will be the first in Seoul to hold a ‘celebration performance and awards ceremony for one person’ during the COVID-19 period, where a minimal number of people will directly visit the activity sites of the awardees.

Marking its 15th year, the Seocho V Festival is an annual year-end event that awards outstanding volunteers, groups, and volunteer managers, and serves as a festival enjoyed together with volunteers.

The district successfully held the visiting ‘celebration performance and awards ceremony for one person’ over two weeks from November 3rd to 16th, and the moving moments from these on-site events will be captured on video and unveiled on December 1st on the Seocho-gu Volunteer Center YouTube channel.

The district selected a total of 27 outstanding volunteers through recommendations from welfare centers and public institutions. The visiting awards recipients include ▲1 Grand Prize ▲16 Outstanding Volunteers (individual/group) ▲3 COVID-19 Special Category ▲6 Category Awards, and ▲1 Youth Award presented by the education director, totaling 27 awards.

The protagonists of the visiting awards ceremony are residents who volunteered in areas such as ▲senior welfare center press corps ▲professional volunteer groups ▲public institution civil service desks ▲youth volunteer mentoring ▲cultural and artistic performance talent donations ▲activities for marginalized neighbors at small libraries and volunteer camps.

Especially this year, a special category award will be added for volunteers who contributed to overcoming COVID-19 by producing and donating safe and sturdy cotton masks and engaging in disinfection activities.

Additionally, awardees based on volunteer hours (▲300 hours Silver Medal ▲500 hours Gold Medal ▲1000 hours Volunteer King) will receive mobile certificates sent individually via text messages. This method replaces the traditional paper certificates with a mobile format suited for the untact era, offering environmental benefits and easier storage.

The mobile certificates are also planned to be used for future volunteer recognition.

Meanwhile, despite the overall contraction of volunteer activities due to social distancing and volunteer safety concerns, the Seocho-gu Volunteer Center has provided timely volunteer opportunities such as making 5,000 ‘Safe and Sturdy Masks’ by hand sewing, non-face-to-face volunteer activities like the ‘Seocho V Cool Kit’ for heat-vulnerable groups, and operating the online talent-sharing platform ‘Seocho Talent TV.’

Mayor Eunhee Jo stated, “Although volunteer activities must have been very challenging this year due to COVID-19, I thank the 110,000 volunteers who have continuously brought happiness to neighbors through various volunteer activities ranging from home-based volunteering to producing talent donation content videos.” She added, “Next year, we plan to consider and attempt new volunteer paradigms such as operating participatory talent-sharing online channels in line with the with-COVID era, building networks to care for the community, and volunteer activities aimed at enhancing urban resilience and the healthy growth of youth.”