Lotte affiliates support underprivileged

Members of Lotte World's Charlotte volunteer team make Braille word cards for visually impaired children, marking “White Cane Safety Day” on Oct. 15. / Courtesy of Lotte Group

Lotte Group is engaging in a diverse range of activities to ensure the conglomerate upholds its corporate social responsibility.

Its holding company Lotte opened a book cafe at the Air Force 8195 unit in the county of Gunwi, North Gyeongsang Province, earlier this month. It was set up to provide those in the military with a space where they can read and relax, as the area lacks such facilities, given its mountain location.

Lotte's affiliates have also been carrying out activities to provide support to those in need.

Lotte Foundation has provided job-seeking college students with a variety of programs, as students face difficulties in a tough job market amid COVID-19.

The foundation has offered videos on YouTube, where instructors provide tips on how to apply to companies and others that introduce Lotte's affiliates and what kind of work they require. The videos also featured startup CEOs, to provide information on how to set up new businesses. Mock interview opportunities were also provided for those who applied.

Lotte's Samdong Foundation donated 123 million won in scholarship funds for middle and high school students based in the Ulju county of Ulsan, as well as for students majoring in arts and sports in Ulsan in October.

A total of 75 million won in scholarship funds was given to 100 middle school students in Ulju county who were recommended by the local office of education. As for students in arts and sports, Lotte provided 10 elementary school students, 20 middle school students and 20 high school students with a total of 48 million won in scholarship funds.

Lotte World's Charlotte volunteer team also carried out CSR activities. Marking "White Cane Safety Day" on Oct. 15, designated to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by visually impaired people, some of whom carry a white cane, the team made Braille word cards for children with visual impairments. Such cards are used to help children expand their vocabulary, but are known to be in short supply. A total of 90 sets of cards were delivered to the Seoul National School for the Blind.

7-Eleven employees visited senior citizens living in poor housing conditions in the Namdaemun area of Seoul in October and provided 200 lunchboxes, 6,000 masks and 250 cups of coffee.

Lotte Confectionary opened a play center at Banggok Elementary School in Busan's Gijang County in October. Funds for the play center project come from profits made from selling Lotte's signature Pepero snack.

Lotte has initiated a project to build play centers to protect children's right to play, as children in Korea face pressure to spend much of their time indoors studying and some schools do not have facilities that enable children to play. The 492-square-meter play center is Lotte's first such facility. (Advertorial)