Busan is good

Busan Kicks Off “Hometown Love Donation to Save My Family’s Life”… Diverse Gifts Available Starting Today (25th)

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will begin fundraising starting today (25th) until December 31 to support the designated donation projects under the 2026 Hometown Love Donation Program.

A “designated donation” refers to a fundraising model in which a local government predefines the project’s fundraising goal and period. Donations are collected for a specific project and the campaign ends once the goal is reached.

From April to July this year (2025), the city conducted a needs assessment targeting the city hall, affiliated agencies, and offices. Following administrative procedures—including review by the Hometown Love Fund Management Committee and a resolution by the City Council—two projects proposed by the Busan Fire & Disaster Headquarters were finalized.

The selected projects support socially vulnerable groups and promote community welfare:

• ●“Installation of Community Fire Safety Boxes in Fire-Prone Areas”

• ●“Restart the Stopped Heart Project”

The “Installation of Community Fire Safety Boxes in Fire-Prone Areas” project will replace fire extinguishing systems in 80 areas where fire trucks have limited access with integrated emergency extinguishing units. While conventional separated-type systems take about 10 minutes to operate due to hose connection time, the integrated units can be set up in under one minute, allowing even seniors to use them easily. This enables residents to respond promptly to fires and secure the critical golden time.

The “Restart the Stopped Heart Project” aims to replace outdated emergency medical equipment in 119 ambulances. This includes replacing 11 mechanical chest compression devices and 21 advanced defibrillators, which is expected to significantly improve survival rates.

The overall fundraising goal for this campaign is 2.722 billion KRW. The donation period spans 2.5 years from July 2025 through December 2027. The project implementation period is from January 2026 to December 2028. For this year alone, the goal is 688 million KRW. Once this amount is raised, it will be used to carry out the selected projects.

In tandem with launching the designated donation campaign, the city will run a promotional event titled “Hometown Love Donation to Save My Family” from today (25th) to September 22. Those who donate at least 100,000 KRW to a designated project in a single transaction during the event period will receive two basic benefits and may also qualify for additional gifts.

The two basic benefits include:

• 1.Full tax credit up to 100,000 KRW during year-end tax adjustment

• 2.A thank-you gift equivalent to 30% of the donation amount

As an added bonus, up to 600 donors who donate in order of multiples of 10 (10th, 20th, 30th… up to 6000th) will receive a gift worth 30,000 KRW. The gifts include: 1.7kg of fresh Korean pork belly, fish cake, 4 servings of spicy tripe stew from Gaemijip, 10kg of rice, a baked snack set from Lee Heung-yong Bakery, or a 14-piece box of Busan Star Light Sand cookies, depending on the recipient's selection.

To participate, donors must first sign up at the online donation portal “Hometown Love eum” (<고향사랑e음>) and then select “Busan Metropolitan City (City Hall)” and one of the designated projects. A single donation of at least 100,000 KRW automatically enters the donor into the event. Details can be found at the Busan Hometown Love Donation website (busanlove.kr).

Winners of the event will be announced on September 25 via a notice on the city’s integrated bulletin board (www.busan.go.kr/nbnews) and by individual SMS.

Separately from the designated donation projects, the city is also conducting a survey of citizens and donors through July 31 via the city’s integrated bulletin board (www.busan.go.kr/nbnews) to determine six general donation projects for 2026, which will be funded through previously accumulated Hometown Love donations.

Cho Young-tae, Director General of the Administrative Management Bureau, stated, “We are grateful to everyone who has shown interest and affection for our city through the Hometown Love Donation Program,” and added, “We will work even harder to ensure the donations make a meaningful impact for those in need.”