Kim Jung-soo, who runs a company making teddy bears, aims to provide full scholarships to as many students as possible.
Kim, CEO of JS&F, which operates a teddy bear museum on Jeju Island, has led a campaign calling for alumni of Yonsei University Business School to donate 1,000 won daily.
More than 1,930 graduates have joined the program by opening accounts for the daily donation, with 60 students benefitting from the scholarships created.
``If a graduate donates 1,000 won a day, it will make 30,000 won a month. And if there are 30 such graduates, they will help a student attend the school without having to worry about tuition,’’ Kim said on the Web site for the campaign.
Kim, also the chairman of the alumni association of the business school, has recently expanded the scope of the ``micro scholarship campaign,’’ using a limited edition of 2,000 teddy bears bearing ``blue butterfly’’ logos.
The logo reflects Kim’s hopes that the ``1,000-won donation’’ campaign he started three years ago will spread to a great number of graduates in a ``butterfly effect.’’
``We have manufactured a limited number of special teddy bears with serial numbers to give as gifts to donors as a means to honor their donations,’’ Kim told Yonhap News.
On the www.bluebutterfuly.co.kr Web site, donors can see the number of students benefitting from the campaign.
He aims to give scholarships to half of the students attending the business school so they won’t have to worry about tuition.
``We believe if the blue butterfly campaign does well, about 50 percent of business school students will be able to receive scholarships,’’ he said.
Kim hoped that the micro scholarship campaign will spread to other schools.
JS&F is the only Korean company with a license to produce teddy bears and operates three teddy bear museums across the nation. It also plans to build museums in other countries.