Hoping to Provide Warm Meals for Marginalized Neighbors and Shelter for Those Without a Place to Stay
By Choi Myung-sam
Published: May 24, 2016, at 6:27 a.m.
Dr. Gyung Bai Choi, Chief Director of JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic, and his wife attended an Honor Society membership ceremony at 10 a.m. on May 23 at the Community Chest of Korea building in Jung-gu, Seoul.
The Honor Society is a major-donor group operated by the Seoul Community Chest of Korea, chaired at the time by Lee Yeon-bae.
Dr. Choi joined the Honor Society in September of the previous year as its 892nd member. His wife, Yoon Jeong-hee, Executive Director of JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic, joined in April 2016 as its 1,149th member.
Together, they became the eighth married couple in Seoul to hold Honor Society membership.
Those attending the ceremony included Dr. Gyung Bai Choi; Executive Director Yoon Jeong-hee; Choi Eun-sook, Secretary General of the Seoul Community Chest of Korea; and staff members from JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic and the Seoul Community Chest of Korea.
The attendees congratulated the couple on becoming Honor Society members.
Dr. Choi said, “When I think back on the difficult times when we had very little, I feel compelled to reach out once more to neighbors in need and offer them a few warm words of encouragement.”
He continued, “I hope our Honor Society membership will become an opportunity to provide warm meals for marginalized neighbors and shelter for those who have no place to rest.”
Yoon Jeong-hee, Executive Director of JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic and Dr. Choi’s wife, said, “While visiting overseas mission fields, I came to believe that we should provide practical assistance to people in impoverished countries through financial support. That led me to decide to join the Honor Society together with my husband.”
She added, “I hope that, through the Community Chest of Korea, our support can be delivered to marginalized neighbors in a more systematic and effective way.”
Choi Eun-sook, Secretary General of the Seoul Community Chest of Korea, said, “Dr. Choi has supported the Community Chest of Korea since 2013. Each year, he has continued to share his compassion through a variety of initiatives, including the establishment of educational facilities for children overseas.”
She added, “As this membership comes around Married Couples’ Day, we hope the news of the couple joining the Honor Society will become an example to many other couples and encourage even more people to extend a helping hand.”
Located in Yeouido, JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic has conducted medical outreach programs in countries across Africa, Southeast Asia and China since 1999.
The clinic has supported patients suffering from cataracts and other underserved individuals through both overseas and domestic volunteer activities. It specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cataracts and presbyopia.
In 2009, Dr. Gyung Bai Choi received an award at the 4th Korea Overseas Volunteer Awards, presented by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, or KOICA, and the Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation, or KCOC.
http://www.newstown.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=251091
