'Donation angel' dies giving everything she had

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- An elderly South Korean woman, known for her series of
charitable donations with money saved while living on government assistance, has
died, making her final donation everything left to her, including her body.

The story of Kim Choon-hee was often carried in local media in recent years
because she made repeated donations to charity while living under the poverty
line herself, with government allowances to the poor being her only income.
Kim died Thursday of shock from blood poisoning and a heart attack at hospital at
age 85, the Korean Organ Donor Program said.
In 2005, she made an agreement to donate about $13,000 she deposited to rent her
shabby rooftop house as well as her body after her death. In addition, she made a
series of donations, including about $2,200 in 2006 and $4,300 in 2007 to
Seoul-based Community Chest of Korea, a national welfare network.
The organ donation agency said her body will be donated to Korea University
College of Medicine on Feb. 6.
These donations earned her the nicknames, "the old lady in the rooftop house" and
the "donation angel."
Kim has lived alone since her husband died right after their marriage more than
60 years ago.
While she eked out a living working in restaurants and construction sites, she
turned her eyes to her neighbors.
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, she fled to Hongseong, South Chungcheong
Province, where she did charity work for children at an orphanage for 10 years.
She also contributed the money she earned working as a vendor to charity to help
needy neighbors.
"Her whole life was about giving and sharing. We will use her donation for
disabled children and senior citizens living alone according to her wishes," said
Kim Dong-soo, chairman of Community Chest of Korea.
kimnh@yna.co.kr
(END)

Delete & Prev | Delete & Next