Naju City in Jeollanam-do announced on the 3rd that it has exceeded its first-year target of 1 billion KRW for the Hometown Love Donation Program.
Along with surpassing 1 billion KRW, the city will officially launch fund utilization projects for regional development and residents' welfare improvement starting this year.
As of December 31 last year, a total of 6,766 donations were made through the Hometown Love Donation Program, raising 1.067 billion KRW.
Naju City exceeded its first-year target of 1 billion KRW for the Hometown Love Donation Program. [Photo by Naju City]
Launched for the first time last year, the Hometown Love Donation Program allows individuals to donate a certain amount (up to 5 million KRW) to regions other than their registered address, receive tax credit benefits, and in return, the recipient region provides thank-you gifts to donors.
Before implementing the program, the city established a dedicated team called the Hometown Love Team in September 2022 and actively promoted participation through visits to government offices, relocated public institutions, companies, hometown alumni associations, and sister cities, along with thank-you gift promotional activities.
Efforts have also been made to discover thank-you gifts that comprehensively consider distinctiveness, diversity, consumer preferences, and regional economic effects.
Naju’s thank-you gifts consist of 34 items, including representative local specialties such as Naju pears, rice and mixed grains, Korean beef and pork, aged skate, as well as processed foods like Naju beef soup, pear juice, various sauces, Naju pear rice bread, and Naju Mall mileage and Naju Love gift certificates.
Noteworthy are also premium crafts produced in Naju such as ‘Naju Ban’, natural dyed products, mugs, daily necessities, lodging at Moksa Naea, the National Naju Forest Experience Center, home fire safety kits, and services like grass-cutting delegation, which are experiential and service-type thank-you gifts.
According to the city, the number of donations by amount showed that 6,680 donors contributed 100,000 KRW, which qualifies for a 100% tax credit, making it the most common donation amount. There were 86 high-value donors who gave 1 million KRW or more.
By region, Gwangju Metropolitan City had the highest number of donors at 1,513, followed by Seoul (938) and Gyeonggi Province (925), where many hometown alumni reside.
Preferred thank-you gifts were Naju pears, Sam-mok sets, sirloin, and mixed grain sets, with agricultural and specialty products that can be consumed immediately being more popular than processed foods.
The city held a contest last year to discover fund utilization projects and finalized three projects through the Hometown Love Fund Operation Deliberation Committee out of 57 submissions.
The selected projects are ‘Dream Tree Nest Creation’, ‘100-Won Laundry Village Joint Operation’, and ‘Pet-Friendly City Cultural Festival’.
‘Dream Tree Nest Creation’ is an infrastructure project aimed at making Naju a better place to raise children by creating resting spots where elementary, middle, and high school students commuting to school and academies can take a break.
‘100-Won Laundry Village Joint Operation’ involves setting up laundromats equipped with washers and dryers in village halls to improve hygiene conditions for vulnerable groups who have difficulty washing large items like blankets.
This year, a target village will be selected to pilot the project, and expansion will be considered based on the results.
The ‘Pet-Friendly City Cultural Festival’ is an event linked to the ‘Pet Theme Park Creation’ project selected by Jeollanam-do last year. It aims to invite pet lovers nationwide, establish Naju’s image as a pet culture hub, and promote regional economic revitalization and job creation.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Achieving the target amount for the Hometown Love Donation Program was possible thanks to the passionate interest and support from hometown alumni across the country, public institutions, agricultural and livestock cooperatives, companies, sister cities, and citizens who always cheer for their hometown with affection.”
He added, “We will continue to discover ways to utilize the hometown love donations for public interest, welfare improvement, and regional development projects that donors and citizens can empathize with and be satisfied by. We will also steadily expand thank-you gifts so that the Hometown Love Donation Program can contribute to revitalizing the local economy.”
Naju = Kim Yuk-bong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr
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