Yongin City Uses Hometown Love Fund for Senior Welfare

Senior Companion and Digital Senior Care Services Expanded
Promotion of Donation Campaigns with Eight New Return Gifts

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province will use its Hometown Love Fund for senior welfare projects.

On April 28, Yongin City announced that this year it has allocated 55 million won from the Hometown Love Donation Fund to the "Senior Companion Service" and 30 million won to the "Digital Senior Care" project.

The "Digital Senior Care" project is a service that supports seniors living alone through a digital platform. In collaboration with the city, NHN Corporation, and its subsidiary Wapplet, the project provides not only health management features for seniors such as medication reminders, cardiovascular checks, and memory support, but also leisure functions including games, radio, fortune-telling, schedule management, and emergency alerts.

The "Senior Companion Service" targets seniors aged 70 and older who have difficulty visiting hospitals or other locations alone, providing a companion manager to assist with transportation. This service is the first in the country to offer accompaniment support using vehicles.

The fund raised through the Hometown Love Donation program, now in its third year, totaled 370 million won as of the end of last year. The donations are used for supporting vulnerable groups, nurturing and protecting youth, and providing cultural, artistic, and health services for local residents.

To promote the Hometown Love Donation program, the city has added eight new types of return gifts. The newly added gifts include admission tickets to Everland and the Korean Folk Village, Everland character merchandise, and a traditional liquor set from the local company Atto Yangjojang. As a result, the total number of return gifts offered by the city has increased to 70.

Within the first half of this year, the city plans to establish a dedicated category for the Hometown Love Donation program on its website and operate a "Hometown Love Donation Hall of Fame" to honor major donors. In addition, the city will conduct promotional activities to encourage donations at festivals in nearby cities such as Suwon and Hwaseong, as well as sister cities like Jeonju and Sokcho. During the year-end period, when donations are concentrated, the city will also hold various special events, including the distribution of additional gifts.

Lee Sangil, Mayor of Yongin, stated, "We will strive to develop support policies for marginalized neighbors so that donors who spread positive influence based on the value of sharing can feel a sense of pride."

Hometown Love donations can only be made to regions other than the donor's registered place of residence. Donors are eligible for tax deductions and can receive return gifts within 30% of their donation amount. Yongin City's return gifts can be viewed on the "Hometown Love eum Return Gift Mall" website.