[Magazine Kave = Editor-in-chief Park Su-nam] The grammar of social contribution is changing. The era when rice and briquettes were delivered in a one-size-fits-all way is fading. ‘Customized welfare,’ tailored to the life of a single beneficiary, is taking root as a new standard. At the forefront of this shift stands MG Saemaeul Geumgo Community Hope Sharing Foundation (Chairman In Kim).
On March 18, the foundation held a handover ceremony for ‘MG Disabled Family Support Project’ together with the Purme Foundation at the headquarters of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central in Gangnam District, Seoul, and formally pledged 200 million won in project funds. The core of the agreement is a clear focus on emotional recovery for the entire family members, not only for children with disabilities themselves.
“Time I first gave to brothers who had only grown up as ‘good kids’”
The reason this project has drawn attention from the social welfare field is that it included non-disabled brothers and sisters, who had remained in the blind spots of welfare for people with disabilities in Korea. Children with a disabled sibling are often expected at home to be ‘mature.’ As a result, they have lost opportunities to express their own feelings and difficulties.
The foundation provides psychological treatment expenses and education expenses of up to 15 million won per person for these individuals. At the same time, for children with disabilities, it opens a path for discovering talent through art activities. For children who show potential as gifted students, activity funds of up to 40 million won are provided, and for children at the art-entry stage, up to 15 million won are provided on a tiered basis. In addition, contests and exhibitions are prepared separately in the future.
“I wanted to give children with disabilities the chance to unfold their possibilities, and give brothers and sisters the time to take care of themselves. The foundation will provide ongoing support so disabled families can become each other’s support.”
In Kim, chairman of the Saemaeul Geumgo Community Hope Sharing Foundation
The selection process is already in its final stage. Through a nationwide public call for applications, the foundation first confirmed 101 children with disabilities, and with the Purme Foundation it will begin case management going forward.
Trust built up, not a one-off favor… The numbers of 10 years
This project is not an accidental act of benevolence. Its weight is different because it is an extension of social contribution efforts the foundation has built over 10 years.
Program | Cumulative / annual performance |
|---|---|
MG Onjeong Sharing Event | In 2026, support 400 million won for 80 social welfare facilities nationwide (compared to the previous year, both the number of institutions and the budget expanded) |
Support for social welfare facility vehicles | Since 2019, 49 minibuses donated in total |
Improvements to community facility environments | From 2022 to 2025, support appliances and IT devices for 223 senior centers and village community halls |
Youth public insurance enrollment fees | In 2025, fully support 477 children and adolescents |
Women and Youth Safe Boxes | A donation of 200 million won to mark World Menstrual Health Day |
One especially notable point is an expansion that runs counter to an economic downturn. At a time when corporate sponsorship overall is shrinking, the foundation increased the scale of support for the Onjeong Sharing Event from 78 locations and 390 million won in 2025 to 80 locations and 400 million won in 2026. The intention is clear: to position social contribution not as something funded by “spare money,” but as a duty independent of the business cycle.
From ‘Giving Welfare’ to ‘Listening Welfare’
The change in approach is also unmistakable. The foundation does not set support items in advance. It chose a method of delegating program planning authority to welfare organizations on the ground. As a result, at 80 facilities over a year, 80 different kinds of warmth bloom at the same time, including summer camps for children from low-income families, spring outings for people with severe disabilities, special meals for older adults, and performances for communities left out of cultural life.
For people with disabilities who have difficulty getting around, a ‘day that goes out’ becomes more energizing for life than just one meal packed to go. That is the result of respecting judgments made in the field. Kim, the chairman, summarizes it in a single line: “Welfare that doesn’t set directions for people, but supports the field.”
A modern translation of the spirit of cooperatives
Saemaeul Geumgo originally began as a cooperative financial organization rooted in Korea’s unique mutual aid spirit. The four pillars of business the foundation touts — ① solving problems faced by neighbors in crisis ② youth paths into society ③ local community networks ④ development of communities for the vulnerable — are the product of translating that founding spirit into a 21st-century social welfare system.
While children with disabilities pick up brushes and draw their own world, their non-disabled brothers and sisters beside them finally get time to look inward at their own hearts for the first time. At welfare sites across 80 locations, 80 small festivals open on the same day. The ‘detail welfare’ the Saemaeul Geumgo Foundation draws ultimately comes close to the most concrete answer toward a society that leaves no one behind.
With the decade-long partnership now entering its 11th year, that answer is becoming even clearer.