As the number of homeless individuals increases, Happy Village, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Korea Daily, has distributed 460 winter jackets to the homeless in MacArthur Park near LA Koreatown with the help of 50 Korean American volunteers.
The “Love Share Jacket for Homeless People Event” saw contributions from several volunteer groups. These included a service team from the Torrance First Presbyterian Church (led by Pastor ChangHyun Ko), 15 scouts and their parents from Troop 278 in Diamond Bar, CA (guided by Haksu Han), and 24 members and parents from the Valley area Growing Up Youth Volunteers. All these groups played an active role in distributing the jackets to the homeless.
Additionally, Byung Chul Park of Everest Trading Corp, renowned for its backpacks worldwide, generously donated large bags to be distributed alongside the jackets. Happy Village is also planning to produce additional sleeping bags in early January to aid homeless individuals in Koreatown who are struggling with the cold weather.
BY NICOLE CHANG, JUNHAN PARK [park.junhan@koreadaily.com]