With singer Lim Young-woong's birthday approaching, fans are once again making donations this year. Fans have celebrated his birthday by donating 6.16 million won, symbolizing June 16, Lim Young-woong's birthday. This year, an overseas fan living with Lou Gehrig's disease also joined the donations, adding meaning, reports said. The money fans donated will be used for children with cancer, people with Lou Gehrig's disease, para-athletes, and vulnerable groups in local communities.
According to the entertainment industry on the 8th, Sue Taylor, a Lim Young-woong fan living in the United States, donated $2,000 (about 3.1 million won) to the SEUNG-IL Hope Foundation, a domestic support group for people with Lou Gehrig's disease, to mark Lim Young-woong's 36th birthday. Sue Taylor is said to be suffering from symptoms of Lou Gehrig's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, glaucoma, and tinnitus, and has recently been in and out of the hospital due to worsening health. Taylor is said to endure pain and loneliness by listening to Lim Young-woong's songs, singing along, and recording. Lou Gehrig's disease is a rare, intractable disease in which motor neurons are damaged, leading to muscle weakness and paralysis.
Since 2022, Sue Taylor has donated $1,000 to $2,000 on every anniversary such as Lim Young-woong's birthday and debut day. The cumulative amount donated to date is said to exceed $32,000.
Regional donations by domestic fan clubs also continued. Lim Young-woong's fan club "Seongnam Hero Geonhaengguk Knitting Group" on the 2nd donated 6.16 million won to the Taepyeong 4-dong Community Service Center in Seongnam through the Gyeonggi Community Chest of Korea. The funds will be used for welfare programs for vulnerable groups and underserved neighbors in the district.
The donation is said to have been raised entirely from the revenue earned by selling knitted items that members made themselves over the past year. This group's birthday-commemorative donation is the third, following 2024 and 2025.
The Gimhae-area fan club "Gimhae Jeuleungbang Hero Era" visited the Gimhae disabled soccer team "Gaya Wangdo FC" on the 6th and delivered a sponsorship of 5 million won. The funds will be used to support training for para-athletes and the operation of the team. The fan club said it made the donation to put into practice in the community the meaning of "geonhaeng," a greeting Lim Young-woong often gives to fans. "Geonhaeng" means "let's be healthy and happy" and is a widely used expression within the fandom.
There was also a donation to support children with cancer. The Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation said on the 5th that it received a 2 million won prize from Good Star's May King of Singers contest in Lim Young-woong's name. Good Star is a platform that channels prize money earned from fans supporting stars into donations. Including this prize, the cumulative amount donated through Good Star in Lim Young-woong's name has reached 128.02 million won.
The Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation plans to use the donation to support caregiving treatment costs for children and adolescents with childhood cancer, leukemia, and rare, intractable diseases. Caregiving treatment cost support refers to programs that cover nursing care expenses, living costs, food expenses, and more incurred during long-term treatment.
In addition, Lim Young-woong's fan club "Newcomers' Gathering Hero Sarangbang" recently delivered 6.16 million won to Hanbit, a childhood cancer NGO registered with the Seoul Metropolitan Government. On the 31st of last month, "Hero Era Jeju Woong Sarang Woong Areibang" donated 6.16 million won to the Jeju Welfare Center for the Disabled, and on the 19th of last month, "Hero Era Yeosu Woong Sarangbang" donated 6.16 million won to Yeosu City. The Yeosu donation will be used to support low-income families and social welfare facilities in the region through the Jeollanam-do Community Chest of Korea.