2023.12.27
Posco’s winter charity gives back to the community
BY KIM SU-HYEON, Korea JoongAng Daily - First
established in 2018, 1% My Little Charity is Posco’s annual winter charity
program in which donors can find and choose an area in which they want to make
a contribution.
This year, 32,000 staff and employees from Posco Group
and 120 partner companies decided to use contributions worth 91.6 billion won
to donate to 150 causes, including child education, remodeling a senior
facility and holding a para-marathon.
One of the recipients includes Pohang Family Center,
which provides counseling to support families facing post-Covid crisis through
counselor visits.
Under the group’s corporate citizenship philosophy,
individual employees also take part in changing society to make it a warmer,
brighter place.
Yu Seon-young, from Posco’s Pohang plant, donated
hematopoietic stem cells in November to help treat a patient with acute
leukemia.
“After applying four years ago, I was finally able to
donate.” Yu said.
“Many people wait more than 10 years just to donate, to
find a suitable recipient, so achieving my goal in just four years is very
gratifying,” he added.
Kim Hyeon-jo, another employee at the plant, is growing
out her hair to make wigs for children with pediatric cancer. Children often
experience hair loss due to undergoing cancer treatment, and donating hair to
make wigs is an effort to provide support.
“To meet the donation criteria of a certain hair
length, I have to grow my hair and take care of it for more than a year, which
can be a bit burdensome. However, I am making an effort to help children in
difficult situations,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, The Posco 1% Foundation, Posco’s charity
organization that stages 1% My Little Charity, has reached 10 years since its
formation.
This year, the foundation was awarded the Deputy Prime
Minister Award and Education Ministry Award on Nov. 30 in recognition of having
provided quality science education programs to middle school students in Pohang
and Gwangyang through the Beyond Imagination Science project.
On the same day, at the 2023 CSR Film Festival Awards,
it earned the Minister of Employment and Labor Award for a video showcasing its
Digital Academy project, which includes IT training and job education for
people with disabilities.