Samsung initiates 'Sharing Month' to help children in need

Samsung Electronics employees pose next to a “Sharing Kiosk” where employees can make donations to help children in need at the company's Hwaseong plant in Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Kim Hyun-bin

Samsung Electronics will launch the month-long "Sharing Month" campaign in May, driven by employee participation. Samsung employees will support 20 children from low-income households through a “Sharing Kiosk" installed at workplaces and online to fund the campaign, according to the company, Tuesday.

The Sharing Month campaign, which is being held for the first time this year, is designed to encourage donations through the Sharing Kiosk, which has become a platform for Samsung employees to make donations. Donations worth 1,000 won ($0.84) will be made each time an employee taps their ID on the Sharing Kiosk.

During the campaign, Samsung will support one child per day introduced through the Sharing Kiosks set up in Samsung's nationwide offices as well as introduce the child's story on the company's intranet. In addition, the company will operate the Online Sharing Kiosk, which uses an in-house messenger to help employees make donations in the office.

To encourage employee participation and promote a culture of sharing, Samsung will also hold other events, such as the "1 Day 1 Tagging Challenge" and "Leaving Supportive Comments for Beneficiary Children." The Sharing Kiosk was first introduced at Samsung's Gumi plant in 2015 and has since expanded to all business locations in Korea and overseas, including the U.S., China, India, Vietnam and Thailand.

Currently, Samsung operates a total of 59 Sharing Kiosks ― 35 in Korea and 24 overseas. Over the past eight years in Korea, 2.64 billion won ($2.2 million) has been raised, and the donations have been delivered to 580 children. The number of annual donors through Sharing Kiosks increased from around 5,000 in 2015 to more than 38,000 last year.

The daily donation culture through the Sharing Kiosk has spread to Samsung's affiliates as well. Fourteen affiliates, including Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Securities and Samsung BioLogics, have installed and operate 30 Sharing Kiosks.

"I hope an environment where we can all live well together will be created," Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong said.

In addition, Samsung employees participate in various donation and volunteering activities including the Donation Pledge program, in which a certain amount of money is donated regularly from employees' salaries. Samsung employees actively participate in talent donation by serving as mentors for Samsung Hope Relay, Samsung Junior SW Academy and Samsung Dream Class.