Diplomatic Community raises money for charity
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The charity bazaar at the 63 Square building in Seoul, Monday, is crowded with shoppers and spouses of ambassadors selling products there. The annual event was hosted by the Seoul International Women’s Association in partnership with the diplomatic community. / Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
On Monday, thousands of Koreans and foreigners flocked to the second floor of the 63 Square building in Yeouido, Seoul for an annual charity bazaar.
It was hosted by the Seoul International Women’s Association (SIWA) in collaboration with the Diplomatic Community.
Spouses of ambassadors from more than 35 countries “solicited” customers to sell traditional products and items they had prepared for the fundraising event since May when the bazaar committee was set up.
Each country set up their own booth to sell their products. Belgian waffles, German Christmas chocolate calendars, and high-end Italian brands attracted charity shoppers.
Of the products, Lee Bock-hee, SIWA vice president, said Moroccan Argan Oil was a big hit.
“All the oil was sold out shortly after the bazaar began. I think price competitiveness was one of the reasons behind its popularity. Each bottle of oil was merely 15,000 won, a lot cheaper than beauty product stores,” she says.
This year’s SIWA bazaar drew more attention from the general public than previous ones partly because diverse cultural performances held on the sidelines of the charity event added to fun and excitement.
Samba and Indonesian folk dances were performed.
SIWA and the Diplomatic Community have hosted the bazaar every year around this time. Each country donated a certain part of the money raised through the bazaar to help underprivileged children, orphans, elderly citizens living without family support and migrant brides at shelters.
Lee says the exact amount of money raised through the event will be available in early December, adding that SIWA is now collecting fundraising data from spouses.
Every year, SIWA and Diplomatic Community raised some 100 to 200 million won through the annual bazaar.
In terms of visitors, this year’s bazaar was not the largest. Last year, the charity event drew nearly 8,000 visitors.
A person familiar with the annual event said that location seemed to be a reason behind the relatively smaller number of visitors this year. Last year, it was held in the Seoul History Museum in Gwanghwamun, an easy, accessible location for the general public, she said.
But overall this year’s event was successful because most of visitors were happy and had fun during the event, she said.