Mapo-gu Meal Production Center 'Hyodobapsang Side Dish Factory' Construction

Mapo Welfare Foundation Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for 'Filial Piety Meal Side Dish Factory' at Mangwon Rainwater Pump Station on 26th
Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu: "We Will Operate Efficiently to Provide More Elderly with Filial Piety Meals"

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) is promoting projects such as ‘Resident Participation Filial Piety Meal’, ‘Filial Piety Lodging Senior Center’, and ‘Filial Piety Vacation’, all of which share the common theme of ‘filial piety’ led by Mapo-gu.

Among these, the district announced that it will begin constructing a ‘Filial Piety Meal Side Dish Factory’ to further expand the core ‘Resident Participation Filial Piety Meal’ project.

The Resident Participation Filial Piety Meal is a representative senior welfare project in Mapo-gu that not only manages the health and safety of elderly residents aged 75 and over by providing lunch along with wellness checks and health monitoring, but also prevents senior loneliness through shared meals, conversations, and walks.

Since the pilot operation began on April with 7 filial piety meal service institutions and about 160 elderly living alone, the district expanded the scope to all neighborhoods last month and is currently operating 17 filial piety meal institutions.

The district stated that currently about 500 seniors use the balanced meals and health and wellness check services six days a week, with an average utilization rate of 90%, reflecting high satisfaction among participating seniors and a flood of requests to expand the target beneficiaries.

However, expanding separate dining facilities for meal preparation and dining spaces requires a large budget and time. Therefore, Mapo-gu plans to create a meal preparation center that transports and supplies soup and side dishes as a way to expand the beneficiary range with a smaller budget.

The district named the meal preparation center ‘Filial Piety Meal Side Dish Factory’ to be familiar and easily recognized by residents, and completed thorough preliminary inspections by touring a lunchbox manufacturing facility located in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, prior to the factory’s construction.

On the 26th, at Mangwon Stormwater Pumping Station, a groundbreaking ceremony for the ‘Filial Piety Meal Side Dish Factory’ will be held with residents active as the Filial Piety Meal Promotion Team and Volunteer Group, including Mapo-gu Mayor Park Gang-su and Filial Piety Meal Promotion Team Leader announcer Lee Jae-yong.

The district plans to minimize costs by utilizing the existing dormitory within the Mangwon Stormwater Pumping Station to build the Filial Piety Meal Side Dish Factory with a total floor area of 142.36㎡. First, partial demolition and steel frame reinforcement inside the dormitory will be carried out by October, followed by full interior and exterior remodeling, aiming for completion in November.

Mayor Park Gang-su said, “By building the side dish factory, we will reduce costs and expand the Filial Piety Meal project to care for more seniors. I deeply thank the Mapo Welfare Foundation (Chairman Lee Hong-ju), Filial Piety Meal sponsors, promotion team, and volunteers who worked hard for the operation and construction of the side dish factory. We will do our best to ensure that the Resident Participation Filial Piety Meal project becomes a representative senior welfare policy that expands beyond Mapo to the entire country.”