Kia Gwangju Sponsors the '2022 Kia Challenge Project'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Kia AutoLand Gwangju held a donation ceremony on the 11th to support the ‘2022 Kia Challenge Project,’ which helps local youth design their dreams and career paths and fosters children’s cultural and artistic talents.

The ‘Kia Challenge Project’ is a representative social contribution activity sponsored by Kia AutoLand Gwangju for nine years. This year’s Kia Challenge consists of the Dream Concert, which includes a celebrity talk concert, cultural concerts, and the Experience Art Land program, as well as a cultural and artistic education program featuring a fusion gugak (traditional Korean music) education program.

The Dream Concert will be held from April to November this year, with three participatory celebrity talk concerts, five cultural concerts, and fifteen Experience Art Land sessions scheduled.

Local children and youth are expected to satisfy their cultural needs through mentoring by celebrities and experiencing cultural content, which will further provide positive motivation to find and challenge their own dreams.

The cultural and artistic education program is conducted in connection with local children’s centers and targets children and youth eligible for educational welfare. This year, a fusion gugak education program will be offered.

Selected children and youth will receive 30 sessions of Nanta (Korean percussion performance) education over eight months and will showcase their honed skills at a production presentation in December.

The donation ceremony was held at Daeja Middle School located in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City. Seo Seong-cheol, General Affairs Team Leader of Kia AutoLand Gwangju, delivered a donation of 160 million KRW to An Seok, the Citizen Participation Officer of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, and Kim Hyun-mi, Head of the Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation.

Following this, the first celebrity talk concert was held in the auditorium of Daeja Middle School with about 280 third-grade students, while first- and second-grade students watched the talk concert via YouTube Live.

The invited mentor who shared valuable stories with the students was comedian Lee Hee-kyung, who gained great attention for her successful diet on the ‘Health Girl’ corner of Gag Concert. She gave a special lecture titled ‘Enjoy the Benefits of Challenge’ to the students attending the lecture hall.

Broadcaster Lee Hee-kyung, who is active in various fields such as comedian, EBS radio host, and YouTube creator, summarized her life as one of challenge and courage. She talked about the challenges and their meanings during her childhood, school days, and life after becoming a comedian.

Through a Q&A session with the students, she discussed the reasons for choosing a career as a comedian and her dreams as she expands her activities into various fields. The session also included time to reflect on students’ concerns about their careers and futures, and the talk concert concluded successfully with enthusiastic participation from the students.

A Kia official stated, “We hope that the experiences gained through the Kia Challenge Project will serve as a foundation for the positive growth of local children and youth,” and added, “Kia AutoLand Gwangju plans to continue its sponsorship to ensure that more children in the local community can benefit.”