He’s possibly Queenstown’s youngest philanthropist.
Twelve-year-old Yuto Kim, who won the main raffle prize at the recent local Ten-Ten Korean Day celebration — a $1000 Noel Leeming voucher — has kindly donated his winnings to Queenstown community support centre, Happiness House, on behalf of the Queenstown Korean Language School.
As further luck would have it, the voucher has come in handy as the centre is in desperate need of a washing machine — “one of our volunteers is washing everything at home,” manager Francisca Retamales says.
Yuto’s mum is none other than Queenstown Korean Association president Hana Kim, one of the Korean Day’s main organisers.
“We brought many people from the community so he wanted to share his voucher with the community,” she says.
“As a mother, I’m incredibly proud of his decision.
“And as the Korean association president, it means even more to see the next generation embracing the spirit of giving back.”
Retamales adds “it shows how amazing this community is, how caring and kind”.
Born in Japan, Yuto has lived in Queenstown since he was 20 months old — he is a year 7 student at Queenstown Primary School as well as attending the Queenstown Korean Language School.
— PHILIP CHANDLER