Pune : 200 volunteers of Church of God along with ASEZ WAO clean 1.5 tonnes of waste from B T Kawade Road 

On the 28th, the ‘7734th Global Environmental Cleanup Movement’ was held as part of the ‘Green Earth’ project to provide clean streets to neighbour’s. 

ASEZ WAO is a youth volunteer group of office workers of the World Mission Society Church of God (Chairman Pastor Kim Joo-Cheol, hereinafter referred to as the Church of God).

On the 28th, about 200 ASEZ WAO members, their families, and colleagues carried out ‘Green Earth’ activities to improve the local environment at BT Kawade Road Bridge, Ghorpadi, Bhagwan, Pune. 

Volunteers meticulously inspected a 2km section of the area and collected various household waste such as cigarette butts, scraps of paper, food wrappers, and plastic cups and straws. The trash picked up over an hour and a half and was filled with 1.5 tons of garbage. The local residents responded with bright expressions when this place, which usually had a lot of indiscriminately discarded trash due to the high floating population, was transformed into a comfortable place. 

In response to the news that young people were voluntarily cleaning up the streets, Pune City Hall (PUNE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION) and Nilesh Prakash Mantri who is the Founder of Nilesh Mantri Foundation showed great support and provided all cleaning supplies, including brooms, hand gloves, and garbage bags, and mobilized a garbage truck to clean up after the cleanup activity was over help. And from the Foresight School Principal Ravi Narayan Pillay and students participated in the cleanup as well.

Member Siddhart Jondhle (32), who was smiling happily as he looked at the changed streetscape, said, “I’m very happy to participate in helping the clean environment for our society people.” 

Member Salshi Yadav (24) also smiled broadly, saying, “ I am glad to have helped create a beautiful city of Pune through this street cleanup volunteer activity. I would like to participate in more volunteer activities like this in the future.”.

ASEZ WAO has continuously carried out environmental cleanup activities in various places in Pune that are frequently visited by citizens, including Dr.Helenkelar Path, Salunke Vihar Road, and Wagheshwar Garden., 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, they visited hospitals, police stations, and government offices to deliver comfort and support through handwritten letters and snacks to medical staff and public officials on the front lines of quarantine. They warmly welcomed the local community by delivering groceries to orphanages. These activities are active not only in Pune but also in various states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Telangana.

The young people’s pure passion for volunteer work was shown by people from all walks of life in the country, including Maharashtra’s Minister of Social Justice and Special Support, Chhattisgarh’s Health Minister, and Mayors of Ahmednagar and Vasai-Virar, expressing their support by awarding merit awards and letters of appreciation.

ASEZ WAO, which means ‘Save the Earth from A to Z, We Are One Family,’ considers humanity as a global family. To achieve sustainable development of the Earth, our home, we are carrying out ‘Green Earth’ activities not only in Korea but also in various countries such as Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. In addition, we are carrying out climate change response projects such as ‘No More GPGP’, which collects plastic waste to preserve the global environment, ‘Mother’s Forest’, which creates a green forest, and ‘Blue Ocean’, which preserves the marine ecosystem. Starting from the workplace where we spend most of our day, we also participate in the ‘Green Workplace’ of 12 challenges such as ‘using public transportation’, ‘riding a bicycle’, and ‘using a handkerchief’ to practice water conservation, power conservation, and conservation.