Hana Financial sets up foundation for at-risk children

Hana Financial Group Chairman and Stump Foundation for Youth Chairman Kim Jung-tai, third from left, waters a plant with foundation officials at an event organized to celebrate the launch of the foundation, Thursday. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group

By Lee Kyung-min

Hana Financial Group said Thursday that it has established the Stump Foundation for Youth to help and protect underprivileged children vulnerable to a range of social problems including neglect, suicide and addiction.

The foundation is part of the banking group's mid- to long-term vision called, “Big Step for Tomorrow,” under its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiative.

“We will continue to make various efforts to solve social problems and support the healthy growth of children, thereby promoting sincere change for future generations through the foundation. The group's practice of ESG management will be enhanced in the process,” Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai said at the event.

The group plans to run a variety of support programs for teenagers who have fallen through the cracks of the social welfare safety net. It will also conduct research into related areas.

The projects to be initiated include financial and educational assistance for children who are at risk of becoming ineligible for state-run social services due to their age.

One-on-one mentoring services for elementary- and middle-school students will be arranged by the group to keep them motivated to learn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools have shifted to online lessons due to the pandemic which has created a new set of problems for children of low-income households due to lack of adult supervision during virtual classes, when both parents works to make ends meet.

The group will also set up a program to improve nutrition for children from low-income households who are often raised by their grandparent(s) or a single parent.

According to data provided by the group, the number of children that have three meals a day fell to 35.9 percent last year, down from 50.1 percent in 2018. Three out of five were prone to malnutrition, the group added.

More than half, or 50.9 percent, of high school students from low-income families could not afford to have breakfast, according to the group. The figure was 40.9 percent for middle school students from similar backgrounds.

Emotional and psychological therapy will be provided to children who fall victim to violent crimes.

The group will organize a panel of experts to develop suicide and addiction prevention programs. Data provided by the group showed the suicide rate among teenagers in Korea averaged 8.2 per 100,000 people, far higher than the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that averaged 5.9.