Gwangju Dong-gu Opens Food Market to Ensure No One Faces Food Insecurity

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) announced on the 14th that it held the opening ceremony of the ‘Gwangju Dong-gu Food Market’ on the 13th to create a warm Dong-gu with no one going hungry and has begun full-scale operation.

The opening ceremony was attended by about 80 local residents, including Im Taek, Mayor of Dong-gu, Gu Jegil, Chairman of Sejong Medical Foundation, Jeong Jiryeon, Director of Korea Racing Authority Gwangju Branch, and Hong Giwol, elected member of Gwangju Metropolitan Council.

The ‘Gwangju Dong-gu Food Market’ is a 164.77㎡ Gyerim 1-dong village welfare hub center, part of the social security special support ‘Atta! Project’ business, consisting of various spaces for residents such as ▲store ▲shared kitchen ▲welfare counseling room.

It operates on weekdays (Monday to Friday) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and low-income residents in need of supplies can visit the food market to directly pick up food and daily necessities donated by companies and organizations.

In cooperation with the (Corporation) Jabisinhaenghoe, a ‘Sharing Side Dish Support System’ has been established to provide side dish support services once a week to households experiencing food shortages.

Through the food market, Dong-gu plans to provide various welfare services that local residents can feel, such as ▲job and welfare service counseling ▲health management through placement of health equipment like InBody measurement devices and blood pressure monitors ▲free tool rental services.

Mayor Im Taek of Dong-gu said, “The Dong-gu Food Market is expected to play an important role in eliminating welfare blind spots as a village welfare hub center that goes beyond a simple food market to actively provide welfare services and serve as a communication channel for residents.”

Meanwhile, Dong-gu’s ‘Atta! Project’ was selected in October 2020 in the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ‘Social Security Special Support Zone’ contest, and has been promoted for three years targeting Sansu 1-dong and Gyerim 1-dong with a budget of 870 million won supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Gwangju Metropolitan City.

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