Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, announced on the 28th that the ‘Bapsang Dolbom’ (Meal Care) program, which supports a hearty meal for neighbors in need through community sharing and participation, is spreading.
Following Songjeong 1-dong’s ‘Cheonwon-ui Sarang Haengbokhan Bapsang (Cheonwon Bapsang)’ (Thousand-Won Love Happy Meal), which provides a generous meal to neighbors in need every Friday for just 1,000 won, Cheomdan 1-dong has launched the operation of ‘Seonhan Sikdang’ (Good Restaurant), supporting meals for neighbors in need through a relay participation of local alleyway businesses.
The Cheomdan 1-dong Community Security Council (Chairperson Park Sun-ae, hereafter Jisahyeop) designated ‘Dalbongi Hoe Susan’ (CEO Park Hyung-guk) as the first Seonhan Sikdang in Cheomdan 1-dong on the 28th, opening the curtain on the ‘Relay Bapsang Donation’.
‘Seonhan Sikdang,’ promoted through collaboration between the Cheomdan 1-dong Jisahyeop and the Cheomdan District Merchants Association (President Park Hyung-guk), serves meals to neighbors in need such as those in welfare blind spots and low-income vulnerable groups for 1,000 won, and the collected meal fees are donated to help those in difficulty, realizing the value of sharing.
Inspired by Songjeong 1-dong’s ‘Cheonwon Bapsang,’ unlike Songjeong 1-dong which operates based on a single restaurant as a hub, Cheomdan 1-dong runs the program by having the restaurant that provided a meal to neighbors in need designate the next restaurant to participate in the meal donation.
It is planned to provide warm meals from ‘Seonhan Sikdang’ to up to 30 neighbors in need twice a month, considering preferred restaurant types and menus according to the recipients such as elderly living alone, disabled persons, and youth.
At Dalbongi Hoe Susan, the first ‘Seonhan Sikdang’ event, about 30 elderly living alone gathered to enjoy rockfish soup and share conversations. Members of the Cheomdan 1-dong Jisahyeop and the Cheomdan District Merchants Association volunteered by guiding the elderly and serving food, adding warmth to the hearty meal.
Park Byung-gyu, Mayor of Gwangsan-gu, also visited the site that day to serve food and support the start of Cheomdan 1-dong’s ‘Seonhan Sikdang.’
The Cheomdan 1-dong Jisahyeop plans to promote activation by delivering certification plaques (door sticker type) to participating places in ‘Seonhan Sikdang’ and actively encouraging the use of ‘Seonhan Sikdang’ for institutional and organizational meal gatherings.
Park Sun-ae, Chairperson of Cheomdan 1-dong Jisahyeop, said, “It is very meaningful to promote relay meal donations in the village in cooperation with the merchants’ association,” adding, “We will continue to strive to ensure that the warm meals prepared with good intentions for neighbors in need continue and increase.”
Park Hyung-guk, President of the Cheomdan District Merchants Association, stated, “We will actively support so that the 50th, 100th ‘Seonhan Sikdang’ continue to appear in Cheomdan 1-dong and the wave of meal donations continues.”
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