2018 Kimchi Making Festival with a Mother’s Love

The Intl. WeLoveU Foundation set out to make kimchi for neighbors in need, at the end of the year. From 12th to 20th of December, the Kimchi Making Festival was held in six regions in Korea.

The festival started in Ulsan, Chuncheon, and Seoul on the 12th, and it continued in Gwangju on 17th, in Incheon on 19th, and in Daejeon on 20th. In each region, a total of 370 members gladly participated in sharing love with their neighbors. Kim Man-gi, the Deputy Mayor of Chuncheon, along with local government officials, city councilors, and district representatives, too, participated in the event.

For sixteen years, the WeLoveU has made kimchi and shared it with the underprivileged neighbors such as multicultural families, child-headed families, single-parent families, and senior citizens living alone. This year, 3,000 heads of kimchi cabbage, weighing about 9,000 kg [20,000 lbm], were made and delivered to 900 households.

The members had made seasonings in advance of the festival; they had purchased fresh ingredients such as cabbages, radishes, carrots, peppers, and garlic, and trimmed them and salted the cabbages. On the day of the festival, despite cold weather, they wholeheartedly made kimchi with the tasty seasonings. Though it was a large-scale event, the members worked together in an orderly manner, which caught the eyes of passersby; citizens showed much interest in the event and gave the words of encouragement to the members.

After that, they filled each container with 10 kg [22 lbm] of kimchi, and handed over the well-wrapped kimchi containers to the next person in a long line to heap them up in the end. In this rare and beautiful scene, all the members smiled brightly, without showing any signs of fatigue.

Kang Hae-sun (at Ssangmun-dong), one of the participants in the festival held in Seoul on 12th, said, “If I make kimchi in winter, I become warm-hearted in preparation of the new year. I sincerely would like to convey the warm love of a mother to our neighbors who can’t afford to make kimchi.”

Kimchi seasoned with the love of a mother, was delivered to 150 households each in Nowon-gu Office in Seoul, Chuncheon City Hall, Jung-gu Office in Incheon, Seo-gu Office in Gwangju, and Seo-gu Office in Daejeon, adding up to 900 households. Public officials showed their gratitude to the Intl. WeLoveU Foundation, saying that they were well aware of what a hard work it is to make kimchi.

Kim Man-gi, the Deputy Mayor of Chuncheon, who participated in Kimchi-Making Festival 2018 in Chuncheon on 12th, said, “There are many neighbors who need our helping hand and love. I’m deeply grateful to the members of the WeLoveU Foundation for making kimchi in winter for them, despite cold weather.”