Elegant Rider Care Fund Supports 102 People This Year

Expansion of Eligibility to Bmart-Baemin Store Riders
Increased Support for Medical, Living, and Caregiving Expenses

Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baedal Minjok, announced on the 25th that 102 riders received emergency medical expenses support through the Woowa Rider Care Fund this year. This is the highest number of riders supported by the Care Fund during the four years of its operation.

Starting this year, the target has been expanded to include riders delivering products such as B Mart and Baemin Store, in addition to food delivery. Since the website began operating at the end of last year, it appears that more riders have sought the Care Fund compared to previous years.

The Woowa Rider Care Fund was established with 2 billion KRW donated by Woowa Brothers founder Kim Bong-jin to the Community Chest of Korea in 2019, plus an additional 100 million KRW from Woowa Brothers. The project is operated by Synnarae Cooperative. It provides medical and living expense support to delivery riders nationwide who need urgent medical expenses due to traffic accidents during delivery, regardless of their affiliation with Baedal Minjok.

Starting with support for 30 people in the first year of the project in 2019, a total of 295 riders have received emergency support amounting to approximately 1.18 billion KRW as of December 20 this year. The average support per person is about 4 million KRW. More than half of the riders who received fund support are single-person households, and considering their difficulty in maintaining proper meals due to illness, recovery kits (health foods) were also provided.

Woowa Brothers has continuously improved the system by steadily expanding the target and scale of support. The amount was increased from the previous maximum of 10 million KRW per person to up to 15 million KRW. The eligibility criteria were also relaxed to 140% of the median income. To lower the entry barrier for riders to use the fund, consultations and applications can now be made via KakaoTalk. Since this year, as the delivery service area has expanded, the target has been broadened to riders who have accidents during delivery, and nursing care expenses and psychological treatment support have been included in the medical expense support items.

Kim Jung-hyun, Head of Value Management at Woowa Brothers, said, "While economic support is important, many riders have appealed that psychological and emotional support is also necessary due to anxiety experienced after accidents. We will consider continuing economic and emotional support as part of post-care."