Gyeonggi Province: "Use Children's Meal Card at 142 Emart Food Courts Nationwide"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Starting August 1st, Gyeonggi Province children's meal card ('G-Dream Card') can be used at 142 Emart food courts nationwide.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 31st, the province has been requesting from NH Nonghyup, the operator of the G-Dream Card, to register Emart food courts as affiliated merchants and to cooperate since July of last year.

Emart completed the development of Emart POS (point of sale) system and testing of G-Dream Card payment by July, and starting August 1st, the G-Dream Card can be used at 142 branches operating food courts among 159 Emart locations nationwide.

There are 46 available locations in Gyeonggi Province.

At the food courts, children can freely choose and eat their preferred foods, which expands meal choices for children, and contactless payment through kiosk ordering is expected to significantly alleviate the psychological burden on children.

The meal support project for underprivileged children is a project where Gyeonggi Province and 31 cities and counties share the budget to provide meals to children under 18 years old who are at risk of missing meals due to poverty, parental unemployment, and other reasons.

Support is provided through methods including children's meal cards (G-Dream Card), regional children's centers (group meals), and meal box and side dish delivery.

Gyeonggi Province has been making efforts to expand affiliated merchants, including linking the G-Dream Card with BC Card affiliated general restaurants (excluding bars, pojangmacha, cafes, etc.) starting August 31, 2020, so that underprivileged children can eat comfortably without being self-conscious about their surroundings.

Currently, there are over 206,000 available affiliated merchants.

Yu So-jeong, head of the Child Care Division of Gyeonggi Province, said "I am pleased that children in the province can eat better quality food conveniently through Emart food court's participation as a G-Dream Card affiliated merchant," and added "We will continue to make efforts to expand children's health and meal choices."