Due to the prolonged COVID-19, welfare centers in Korea were shut down and volunteer activities plummeted, deepening the problem of food shortage among the vulnerables, including seniors living alone and the homeless. Being aware of this social problem, SK Innovation and its subsidiaries have been participating in the “Sharing a Meal, Warm Contact” program, which  was  initiated by SK Group, since early this year. This is also part of SK Innovation’s effort to strengthen the Safety Net in the wake of the pademice.

As reported earlier, after the funds for “Sharing a Meal, Warm Contact” program were delivered across SK Innovation’s domestic business sites, CEO of SK Energy Cho Kyung-mok also joined to provide packed lunches to the homeless in Seoul on Feburary 5^th. This time CEO of SK Global Chemical and CEO of SK Lubricants, other two subsidiaries of SK Innovation, continued the program by participating in volunteer activities to support the seniors living alone.

On February 26^th, SK Global Chemical CEO Na Kyung-soo and company’s members visited Seodaemun District in Seoul to deliver lunch boxes, handwritten letters, face masks, and refreshments made from Korean rice to the seniors living alone in the district. SK Global Chemical has been supporting the seniors living alone here since 2016 through the regular volunteer program “Sharing Happiness, Connect Love.”

 ▲ SK Global Chemical CEO Na Kyung-soo delivered messages and wrote letters to encourage the elderly living alone before visiting them

Due to the pandemic, it has been over a year since the last time the members of SK Global Chemical visited the seniors living alone who are at the risk of food shortage in Seodaemun District. This time, eventhough all activities were still conducted while keeping social distance, both sides were happy to see each other. In addition, CEO Na Kyung-soo and SK Global Chemical members bought and assemble kitchen storage racks for the seniors who have have nothing but the floor to place the rice cookers and microwaves.

 ▲ SK Global Chemical CEO Na Kyung-soo and company members assembled kitchen racks and give them to the elderly

On the same day, CEO Cha Gyu-tak and members of SK Lubricants prepared lunch boxes consisting of rice, soup, and seven types of side dishes and delivered them to the elderly living alone in Yongsan District in Seoul. SK Lubricants CEO and company’s members who took part in this activity also put their encouraging messages on the memory stickers sent along with the lunch boxes. The gift packages also included mixed nuts and face masks to keep the elderly safe and healthy amidst the pandemic.

For the safety of the who were struggling to climb up and down the narrow stairs in front of their houses, CEO Cha Gyu-tak also put anti-slip tape on the stairs himself. .

 ▲ SK Lubricants CEO Cha Gyu-tak and company members delivered lunch boxes and put anti-slip tape in front of the elderly living alone’s houses

In total, CEOs and members of SK Global Chemical and SK Lubricants has visited 59 households of the elderly living alone. Despite some limits due to the current situations, all of the volunteers tried their best to share the warmth with the elderly while strictly followed the prevention guidelines.

Besides, same as the previous activity, the lunch boxes delivered by the volunteers this time are products of local small businesses and the face masks were made by O2M, a social venture supported by SK Innovation. O2M has donated 10,000 masks to join SK Innovation in this “Sharing a Meal, Warm Contact” program.

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