[Sponsored Report] Hanwha workers contribute locally

Hanwha employees carry coal briquettes to a poor neighborhood. Provided by the company

Hanwha Life Insurance employees are encouraged to have clever minds to help the company and warm hearts to assist the needy. The company’s 25,000 executives and employees all belong to at least one of the company’s 153 groups. As soon as someone joins Hanwha Life as an employee, they automatically become a volunteer.

All of the company’s employees dedicate 1 percent of their yearly working hours to help others. Their activities include monthly visits to a local rehabilitation center for the disabled, a senior welfare center and an orphanage. Around the company’s foundation day on Oct. 9, volunteer groups are especially active in visiting those in rural areas and sharing food for Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving.

They also financially support low-income families through their unique fund-raising program, where the company doubles the amount of money its employees donate. The company has collected a total of 9.7 billion won ($8.8 million) since 2004, when the program started.

The company is especially interested in building a better future for young people through economics education. Last year, Hanwha Life established Happy Tutor, an education program for children who want to learn about economics. The program runs in conjunction with Junior Achievement Korea, a nonprofit organization. Forty employees completed training to become economics teachers to teach children from first to third grade. About 1,500 children from three elementary schools in Seoul have attended the program so far.

Hanwha Life has also been donating books related to economics to schools in rural areas from 2010. Its last donation was to Joyang Elementary School in Chuncheon, Gangwon.

The company has provided financial aid to college students to act as tutors and teach economics to more than 2,700 children living in rural areas or those who come from low-income families. The college students who performed the best were given an opportunity to serve people abroad. Last year, 11 students were selected for volunteer work in Vietnam.

The insurance company sought to benefit even those in need of welfare: patients who suffer from chronic renal insufficiency. Those patients need to be on daily dialysis, which takes up to four or five hours a day. This limits them from traveling long distances and most patients stay at home or the hospital for the rest of their lives.

The company started taking the patients traveling to provide refreshing moments and good memories. Thanks to the company, about 200 patients traveled to Jeju Island with the help of a nephrologist.

“We will continue our social contributions and make our society happier,” said a Hanwha official.