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Korean study-abroad students in NY get together to give

October 21, 2014

Giv Orange’s second campaign. (Giv Orange)

A New York-based fundraising organization started by a group of international students at U.S. colleges is collecting funds for its second campaign.

Giv Orange, comprised of Korean students studying abroad in America, was started earlier this year by President Kim Ki-young and 16 friends who set out to spread the value of giving to the needy while changing Koreans’ perceptions of students like them.

Its newest project, “The Village Where Time Stopped, and Jae-hoon,” seeks to raise funds to help a second-grader named Jae-hoon and his family living in the last of Seoul’s shanty towns. Residents of Goo-ryong Village, situated next to the affluent Gangnam District, struggle with basic necessities like education.

The organization focuses on fundraising for charity toward one individual per project — in August, it raised money for the education fund of Sung-ha, a child at the Cheongbori Community Child Center in Korea.

Kim said the group came about as a result of an effort to change Koreans’ negative views of students who go to America to study abroad, as they are often seen as children of wealthy families — commonly referred to as the “Orange Clan.”

Giv Orange wants to change that image of study-abroad students to that of “charity givers.”

Kim said he hopes that international students participate in the effort to be a part of helping society.

For more information or to donate, visit www.givorange.com.