Yongin City Distributes Leftover School Meals to Welfare Institutions

Yongin Special City in Gyeonggi Province announced on September 30 that it has established a plan to provide leftover prep meals from school cafeterias to local welfare institutions.

The city signed a business agreement for a "School Meal Prep Food Sharing Pilot Project" on the same day at the city hall reception room with officials from the Yongin Office of Education, Seongji High School, Singal High School, the Volunteer Center, and welfare institutions.

School meal prep food refers to clean surplus food that has been cooked but was not served to students. Under the agreement, starting from October 19 through December, Seongji High School and Singal High School will provide prep meals to the Yongin Saemaul Undong Free Meal Center and Giheung Senior Welfare Center, respectively. When Seongji High School and Singal High School package the prep meals in dedicated containers, the Yongin School Meal Support Center transports and delivers them to the demand institutions, which then reheat, portion, and distribute them.

After inspecting the volume generated at each school and checking hygiene and safety management during the pilot project period, the city plans to gradually expand participating schools and demand institutions from 2027 onwards.

Yongin Special City Mayor Sang-il Lee said, "I hope that more schools will participate and more people can benefit from the spirit of sharing."