"Please use this when dining out"
Young man expresses gratitude to store owner who helped him
Bucheon City: "Efforts to promptly identify and support households in crisis"
A young man from Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, expressed his gratitude to the supermarket owner who extended a helping hand during his time of financial hardship. Photo by Bucheon City
A story has emerged about a young man facing economic difficulties who received help from a support program for vulnerable groups implemented in Bucheon City, Gyeonggi Province.
According to Bucheon City on the 24th, Mr. A, who runs a supermarket, received an envelope from a customer in his 20s last year. The young man left the envelope containing 200,000 won in cash on the counter with a note saying, "It’s not a large amount, but I hope this helps when you dine out with your spouse."
Surprised by the money, Mr. A recalled that this customer was the same young man who had asked a few months earlier, "My situation is very difficult due to unemployment; could you allow me to buy one ramen on credit?" At that time, feeling sympathy for the young man’s situation, Mr. A had prepared about 50,000 won worth of items including ramen, instant rice, curry, and daily necessities. The young man later succeeded in finding a new job and returned to the store after a few months to express his gratitude to Mr. A.
This incident actually took place in the second half of last year as part of Bucheon City’s 'On(Store)' project, which identifies and supports vulnerable groups. On(Store) is a welfare and safety platform in Bucheon where neighborhood store workers such as those in supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, and side dish shops discover neighbors in need, provide goods, and then the city reimburses the costs and conducts on-site investigations to offer necessary welfare services.
The project began in June 2023 to minimize welfare blind spots for vulnerable groups such as elderly people with dementia, abused children, and isolated single-person households through citizen participation. So far, 134 stores in Bucheon have participated in On(Store), providing emergency daily necessities worth about 92 million won to 1,512 neighbors in need. Additionally, it has been linked to over 200 public services including visiting health and welfare services and emergency welfare.
Bucheon City announced plans to further expand the On(Store) project by increasing the number of 'Hub On(Store)' locations?places like large marts and convenience stores that can provide immediate goods?from 10 last year to 37 this year. Along with this, the city plans to enhance the functions of the self-developed 'OnBucheon' application, which allows rapid sharing of crisis information with police and fire departments and real-time monitoring of input data across three districts. Furthermore, various donations collected in Bucheon will be expanded and reorganized into the 'Bucheon Onmaeum Fund' to diversify support programs for vulnerable groups.
Mayor Jo Yong-ik of Bucheon said, "We will continue to strive to promptly identify and support households in crisis through a meticulous and warm Bucheon-style smart welfare and safety system and improve the quality of welfare services."
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