As Always This Year... Anonymous Donation Angel Leaves 99 Million Won Behind

Donation to Cheongnyong-dong Welfare Center in Cheonan, Chungnam
Same amount donated last year as well

An unidentified woman donated 99 million won in cash to the Cheongnyong-dong Administrative Welfare Center in Cheonan-si, Chungnam, expressing her desire to help neighbors in need. She had donated the same amount to the same place last year as well.

At around 10 a.m. on the 29th, an anonymous donor visited the first-floor civil service office of the Cheongnyong-dong Administrative Welfare Center and left a bag containing cash, asking that it be delivered to the Customized Welfare Center. Inside the bag were 19 bundles of 50,000 won bills (950 million won), four bundles of 100 bills of 10,000 won (4 million won), and a total of 99 million won, along with a note labeled "Donation for Neighbors in Need."

An anonymous donor left 99 million KRW in cash at the Cheongnyong-dong Administrative Welfare Center in Cheonan-si, Chungnam [Photo by Chungnam Cheonan City, Yonhap News]

This donor had also delivered a bag containing 99 million won to Cheongnyong-dong last year, saying she wanted to help neighbors in need. The same staff member received the donation this year as well, confirming that the donor was the same person. The donor refused to reveal her identity and left only the message, "Please use this for neighbors in need," according to the staff member.

Cheongnyong-dong plans to use this donation for programs such as "Dream Cheongnyongdan and Magic Lamp," which provides desired items to basic livelihood security recipients; "Our Neighborhood Ureonggaksi Visiting Monitoring," which delivers daily necessities monthly to vulnerable groups while monitoring their living conditions; and the "Fresh Green Food Health Support Project," which provides ingredients and recipes to vulnerable groups.

Meanwhile, as the year-end approaches, acts of kindness by "Faceless Angels" who donate annually across the country continue.

A donor who has been donating for 16 years left a letter and rice at the Yongjin-eup Administrative Welfare Center in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk.
[Photo by Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk, Yonhap News]

On the 26th, someone left 60 sacks of 10kg white rice and a handwritten letter in front of the main gate of the Yongjin-eup Administrative Welfare Center in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk. The letter read, "There are still dark places where welfare's reach does not extend. I leave a few small wishes hoping that our beautiful Yongjin-eup, where even the less fortunate live together, will become a better place." This anonymous donor has been continuously donating rice for 16 years since 2008, with a total donation amounting to 9,600 kg. The Yongjin-eup Administrative Welfare Center plans to deliver this rice to neighbors in need who are in welfare blind spots, in accordance with the donor's wishes.

Also, on the 19th, an unidentified citizen left a donation in front of the office of the Gyeongnam Community Chest of Korea (hereafter "Community Chest"). The donor called the office fundraising team leader from a caller ID-restricted phone and said, "I am leaving a donation in front of the office," then hung up. When staff went to the location mentioned during the call, they found a box containing 59,256,320 won in cash and a handwritten letter.

The letter expressed gratitude to the elderly who endured war and hardship, saying, "Thank you to the seniors who became the foundation of our current prosperity through poverty and sacrifice during the war and the 'barley hump' period." It also stated, "The savings accumulated over a year will be used as subsidies for small-scale free meal services, hoping to prevent hunger and lonely deaths among the elderly in the community." Community Chest staff judged, based on the caller ID-restricted call and handwriting on the letter, that this was the same anonymous donor who has made several large donations before.

This anonymous donor began donating 259 million won in 2017 as a donation to help neighbors and has since made large donations whenever social issues arose, such as the Itaewon disaster, the Ukraine war, the T?rkiye earthquake, and heavy rain damage. To date, the donor has contributed approximately 612 million won and is known as the "Anonymous Donor Santa" at the Community Chest. The Community Chest plans to deliver the donation to small-scale free meal services as per the donor's wishes.