Minister Park Hong-keun, actor Park Ha-sun among 70-plus participants

Group visits Gwangmyeong welfare center to engage with people with developmental disabilities

'Lottery funds to closely support programs for disabled people's independence'

Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun delivers remarks during a visit to the Gwangmyeong Comprehensive Welfare Center for the Disabled in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday. [Ministry of Planning and Budget]
Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun delivers remarks during a visit to the Gwangmyeong Comprehensive Welfare Center for the Disabled in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday. [Ministry of Planning and Budget]

The Happy Sharing Volunteer Corps of the Ministry of Planning and Budget's Lottery Committee joined people with disabilities for a performance and sports activities, putting the value of community service into practice.

The volunteer corps held an event Wednesday at the Gwangmyeong Comprehensive Welfare Center for the Disabled in Gyeonggi Province, where participants watched a cultural arts performance and took part in sports programs alongside people with developmental disabilities.

About 70 people attended, including Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun, civilian members of the Lottery Committee, actor Park Ha-sun — who serves as the lottery's promotional ambassador and head of the volunteer corps — and corps members.

Attendees watched a performance by the Dasoni Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble of people with developmental disabilities affiliated with the welfare center, before joining a range of sports programs — including "Flying Dice" and "Wind Catcher Special Forces" — for a time of interaction.

"This event, where people with and without disabilities sweat and connect together, was a valuable opportunity to reflect on what community means in our society," Park said. "The government is working on multiple fronts to build an inclusive society where people with and without disabilities can live together."

He added that lottery funds would be directed toward programs essential to the daily lives and independence of people with disabilities, including learning support, job expansion and mobility assistance.

The Happy Sharing Volunteer Corps was founded in 2008 under the motto "Lucky lottery, public inspiration." It operates to promote the public value of lottery funds and spread a culture of sharing, and has carried out 80 volunteer activities to date.

Now in its 19th cohort, the corps has this year delivered dosirak — packed meals — to residents of a low-income neighborhood in Donui-dong, Seoul, in February, carried out cool-roof installation work at a child welfare facility in May, and completed this latest activity supporting cultural, arts and sports programs for people with disabilities.


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