GS Retail donates W60m worth of food to vulnerable residents for summer

GS Retail and the Environmental Foundation announced Wednesday they are jointly running a summer essentials support project for vulnerable residents.

Now in its second year, the project will be conducted twice during the hottest weeks of July and August, timed to coincide with the traditional "bok" days when heat typically peaks. The recipients are registered users of Onggi Changgo, a food market operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for residents of single-room tenement neighborhoods. GS Retail plans to provide 60 million won ($39,900) worth of summer staples, centered on nutritious ready-to-eat foods including samgyetang, gukbap, chicken porridge and gomtang.

A handover ceremony was held Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Onggi Changgo outlet in Donui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Attendees included Baek Jae-uk, Jung Seong-uk and Shin Seung-hee from the Environmental Foundation, as well as Park Gyeong-rang, ESG team leader at GS Retail, and Yu Jin-suk, a GS Retail manager.

The Donui-dong Onggi Changgo is the second location operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government under the Onggi Changgo brand. Users receive 20,000 points per household per week — up to 80,000 points per month — which they can spend on items of their choice.

Four Onggi Changgo locations are currently operating in Seoul: in Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu; Donui-dong, Jongno-gu; Yeongdeungpo-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu; and Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu. GS Retail and the Environmental Foundation supplied essentials to the first Dongja-dong location last year and expanded their support this year to include both the Donui-dong and Dongja-dong outlets.