'2025 Global Volunteer Week' with Employee Participation
Village Clean-up, Wallpapering and Floor Installation for Senior Households
POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks (headed by Jae-yoon Ko) has extended a helping hand to the local community by carrying out various sharing activities for elderly people living alone in the area.
Amid the ongoing "2025 Global Volunteer Week," a special week of volunteer activities in which all POSCO Group employees participate until May 31, the company drew particular attention with customized activities for local seniors.
On the 29th, at Gwangyang Jungma Senior Welfare Center, Jongil Park, Deputy Head of Gwangyang Steelworks (third from the right), Inhwa Jung, Mayor of Gwangyang (fourth from the right), and officials are making kimchi for elderly people living alone. Provided by Gwangyang Steelworks
On May 29, Gwangyang Steelworks held the "Lunchbox Delivery Project Performance Report and Project Fund Handover Ceremony" at the Gwangyang Jungma Senior Welfare Center, aiming to prevent malnutrition among seniors and to create silver jobs that help increase their income.
The event was attended by Inhwa Jung, Mayor of Gwangyang; Jongil Park, Deputy Head of Gwangyang Steelworks; Daewon Choi, Chairman of Gwangyang City Council; officials from Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority and Gwangyang Love Sharing Welfare Foundation; and about 100 others.
The "Lunchbox Delivery Project," which began in 2016, delivers lunchboxes directly to the homes of elderly people living alone who have difficulty moving around, in order to prevent malnutrition. It is regarded as a model case of cooperation between the private sector, government, and corporations, demonstrating a successful example of mutual growth between companies and the local community.
The lunchbox delivery project provides livelihood lunchboxes five times a week to 70 elderly people living alone near Gwangyang Steelworks. The project will also create jobs for 15 seniors from vulnerable groups (12 in lunchbox preparation, 3 in delivery). The project will run for one year until May next year, with a total budget of 174 million won (POSCO 99 million won, Port Authority 35 million won, Gwangyang City 40 million won).
Jongil Park, Deputy Head of Gwangyang Steelworks, stated in his encouraging remarks, "As the lunchbox delivery project marks its 10th anniversary, we have provided livelihood jobs to 115 seniors and delivered about 140,000 lunchboxes to elderly people living alone. We will continue to promote tailored social contribution projects to support the healthy lives of vulnerable seniors in our community."
The POSCO PHP (POSCO Honored Partner) Volunteer Group, consisting of POSCO employees and staff from local partner suppliers, also joined forces to participate in sharing activities for seniors. On this day, the PHP Volunteer Group carried out a large-scale volunteer campaign in Guhwang Village, Gwangyang, to help create a beautiful rural community.
Launched in 2019, the POSCO Gwangyang PHP Volunteer Group is a local community sharing organization led by employees of POSCO's partner suppliers, such as PHP (POSCO Honored Partner).
This volunteer activity, involving PHP employees and POSCO staff, was organized to address difficulties faced by local farming villages, such as the accumulation of household waste and discarded wood, and the increase in vacant houses.
About 100 people, including employees of POSCO's top partner supplier PHP and officials from POSCO's Purchasing and Investment Division, visited Guhwang Village, which is suffering from a labor shortage due to population decline. Divided into six teams, they carried out stream clean-up, wall repair and painting, and focused on collecting trash discarded along the roadsides, drainage ditches, and grassy areas near the village.
In addition, they visited the homes of elderly people living alone in the village and carried out activities to improve their living convenience, such as reapplying old wallpaper and floor coverings.
Myunghoon Kim, head of the Gwangyang PHP Volunteer Group (CEO of Gwangyang Co., Ltd.), said, "We are pleased to have helped rural villages by improving the residential environment for elderly people living alone. We will continue activities to create clean and beautiful rural villages." Gwanbong Ko, head of POSCO's Win-Win Growth Group, stated, "We will continue to provide steadfast support and attention as a reliable partner to the local community and farmers."
Hanbong Lee, head of Guhwang Village, said, "We are grateful to everyone who visited and helped during the busy farming season, and we appreciate all those who assisted with tasks that could not be handled due to the labor shortage."
In addition to the lunchbox delivery project, POSCO plans to continue its warm companionship with local seniors through activities such as improving residential environments, job creation programs, health management for seniors with chronic diseases, and the "Rice and Blanket Sharing for the Vulnerable" campaign to help disadvantaged groups stay warm during winter.
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