Sharing Warmth with the Local Community

 

-2016 Love Briquette Donation Project

 

 

On November 26, 2016, as the first snow of the season fell, nearly eighty Yonsei students delivered 4,250 briquettes to fifteen different households in Seodaemun District. The volunteers were taking part in the 2016 Love Briquette Donation Project, which is run by the Yonsei University Volunteer Center and the Warm Korean Peninsula Love Briquette Donation Campaign. This is the seventh year that Yonsei students have delivered briquettes to local families in need, and the volunteers were warmly received by members of the community. At one home, they were served fish cake soup with noodles simply because they “went through great trouble in the cold weather”; passersby also stopped the volunteers to thank them for their efforts.

 

 

Ju-chan Hong , leader of the student volunteer coordinators, explained their work in organizing the project: “Each team member wrote more than fifty hand-written letters requesting donations, which added up to more than 500 letters being sent out. It was very encouraging that our donations increased 150% compared to last year, including a $425 (KRW 500,000) donation by a professor from Hematology and Oncology. On the day of the event, we were worried by the large amount of snow, but we were relieved to successfully complete the event without any accidents, and we hope to keep introducing this project to our fellow students.”

 

Underwood International College (UIC) student Yejin Jeon commented: “This was my very first time partaking in briquette volunteer work. The sudden snow made the work more laborious, but my heart was warmed when we stood side by side in single file to transport the briquettes.” One of the beneficiaries made coffee to share with the volunteers, saying that she was “sorry, but also very grateful, that they delivered on such a cold day.”