About 10 employees join cherry tomato harvest and packaging

Farm employs 55 young adults with developmental disabilities full time

Annual 50 million won donation continues since 2024

Employees of Korea Zinc and its affiliates Axis IT and KZ Precision pose for a photo before volunteering at Purme Social Farm in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday, where they helped young adults with developmental disabilities grow and harvest cherry tomatoes. [Korea Zinc]
Employees of Korea Zinc and its affiliates Axis IT and KZ Precision pose for a photo before volunteering at Purme Social Farm in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday, where they helped young adults with developmental disabilities grow and harvest cherry tomatoes. [Korea Zinc]

Korea Zinc has been running a smart farm volunteer program for the third consecutive year to help young adults with developmental disabilities achieve economic independence. Employees take part directly in cherry tomato harvesting and packaging, while the company donates 50 million won ($37,700) annually to support stable employment at the farm.

Korea Zinc announced Friday that it had held a farm volunteer activity Thursday at Purme Social Farm in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, together with employees from its affiliates.

About 10 employees from Korea Zinc, Axis IT and KZ Precision took part in the activity, visiting the farm where young adults with developmental disabilities work and helping with cherry tomato cultivation, harvesting and packaging.

Purme Social Farm is a cherry tomato smart farm established in 2022 by the Purme Foundation. It currently employs 55 young adults with developmental disabilities on a full-time basis, providing jobs suited to their individual needs so they can earn a stable income and become self-sufficient members of society.

Young adults with developmental disabilities often struggle to achieve economic independence because suitable jobs are hard to find and workplaces that can support them long-term remain scarce. Purme Social Farm was established to address these challenges by creating agricultural jobs through smart farm technology.

The Korea Zinc employees began the day with a briefing on how the farm operates and how cherry tomatoes are grown. They then moved into the greenhouse, where they removed side shoots sprouting between stems and checked the growth of the tomatoes before carrying out the harvest.

In the afternoon, the volunteers moved the harvested cherry tomatoes to a processing facility, washed them and packed them into retail containers.

Korea Zinc's support for Purme Social Farm began in 2024. For three consecutive years through this year, the company has donated 50 million won annually to the Purme Foundation and paired the financial support with employee volunteer activities.

The donations are used to purchase agricultural supplies needed for cherry tomato cultivation, including seedlings, growing media, fertilizer and plant-training wire. The aim is to ensure the farm has a steady supply of materials to sustain production and maintain employment for the young adults with developmental disabilities who work there.

Beyond providing full-time jobs, Purme Social Farm also runs a vocational experience program. To date, it has given more than 500 young adults with developmental disabilities, along with their parents and teachers, the opportunity to try agriculture-related work firsthand.

Korea Zinc said it plans to continue the initiative so that employees can work alongside young adults with developmental disabilities on-site and deepen their understanding of the importance of employing and supporting the independence of people with disabilities, rather than limiting its involvement to one-off donations.

"We hope this volunteer activity — now in its third year with employee participation — not only encourages the economic independence of young adults with developmental disabilities, but also helps build broader social awareness of their right to work," a Korea Zinc official said. "We will continue to show sustained interest and support so that young adults with developmental disabilities can work in a stable environment and become self-sufficient members of our society."


kwater@heraldcorp.com