In line with government regulations, Shincheonji Volunteer Group (SVG), which is the volunteer wing of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, has continued to serve communities in South Korea throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most recently, on 20th January, the Cheongju branch of Shincheonji Volunteer Group (SVG) signed an MOU with the New Age Senior Citizens' Association of North Chungcheong province (Chungcheongbuk-do) as part of an initiative which aids citizens in greatest need. 20 bags of 10kg of rice were said to have been donated as part of the 'More is Better' campaign - a volunteer initiative that, through a signed agreement with Shincheonji Volunteer Group, redirects a portion of the profits of local businesses to citizens in need.

Yong-hyeon Cho, president of the New Age Senior Citizens' Association in North Chungcheong province, said, “I would like to thank the Shincheonji Volunteers for their hard work for the needy within our local community. The delivery of 20 bags of rice will be given to senior citizens.”

Jae-joon Byun, head of SVG Cheongju, said, “We are pleased to support in whatever way we can.”

SVG Cheongju has been consistently conducting voluntary activities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, such as sanitisation services, as well as participating in their long-term initiatives which include improving road networks, implementing environmental clean-up campaigns, cooking and delivering homemade lunches and providing beauty services and mural paintings.

SVG has been active in Korea throughout the pandemic. Since September 2020, SVG Eastern Seoul has been carrying out weekly COVID-19 prevention measures at 77 shopping centres to support small businesses most affected by COVID-19. Moreover, SVG Seoul-Gyeonggi has been supporting small business owners struggling to keep their businesses afloat and lacking finances to procure professional sanitisation and disinfection cleaning services, by providing consistent twice-weekly cleaning services. In total, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, 212 SVG volunteers in 68 locations have carried out Covid prevention measures over a total of 65 days.

In other Shincheonji-related news, 3741 congregants of Shincheonji Daegu Church, who had contracted Covid-19 and recovered, donated their blood plasma over three rounds in an effort to help develop treatment for COVID-19. Of this figure, 1561 donors donated their blood plasma more than twice. Mr. Jun-wook Kwon, Deputy Head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), expressed his gratitude to donors in person in November 2020, saying, "The blood plasma donation by believers of Shincheonji Church, who have now recovered from COVID-19, will make an indelible contribution to overcoming this pandemic and, eventually, will eradicate it. We hope that the voluntary and active example set by Shincheonji Church members today will serve as an example to all citizens." Earlier this year, the KDCA confirmed that it is expected to secure blood plasma treatment by the end of 2021; a step that could potentially alleviate the suffering of many Covid sufferers in Korea and beyond.

Shincheonji Volunteer Group will continue to put love for its neighbours and marginalised communities into practice through various cultural and voluntary activities, having partnered with 72 national and international volunteer agencies for initiatives that include improvements of the road network, implementation of environmental clean-up campaigns, delivery of homemade lunches, and provision of beauty services and mural painting.

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