Samsung 2006 Annual Report Download - page 61

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A company that earns trust and respect
The Samsung Social Contribution Committee was established to elevate
the professionalism of community service activities and programs within
the company. Our people also volunteer for community service, helping
to motivate others to get involved. In Korea, about 13,000 employees
of Samsung Electronics are organized to engage in various programs
such as assisting at social welfare institutions or helping children in need.
Paying more attention to local communities, we are engaging in diverse
sponsorship programs.
Samsung Electronics regards both corporate and social value
as very important, and we are returning part of our profits to society. At
the same time, we continue to improve our operational transparency,
shareholder value and social contributions. Our community service
programs are part of an overall effort to earn trust and respect as a
member of society.
Social contributions on the global stage
Our purpose is not limited to being successful but also to being valuable
to all stakeholders. To this end, we are engaged in various community
activities around the world.
Samsung’s “Four Seasons of Hope,” in its fifth year in 2006, has
brought together Samsung Electronics, major retail partners and world-
famous sports stars. Arnold Palmer (golf), Magic Johnson (basketball),
Joe Torre (baseball) and Boomer Esiason (football) have been involved
in this US charity campaign since 2002. They were joined by Canadian
ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and former New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani in 2005, and former NFL quarterback Dan Marino became a
partner in 2006. During the year, the program raised US$800,000, which
was donated to the foundations sponsored by the celebrity partners. As
the title sponsor, we have donated US$7 million to the program over the
past five years.
We also launched the “Hope for Education” program with
Microsoft in 2004, supporting US primary and secondary schools with
the latest technology products to promote learning. In the three years
since its inception, the program has awarded US schools over US$5
million in Samsung products and Microsoft software.
We are also promoting goodwill in China as a company that
gives to society by supporting education, disadvantaged people and
rural communities, and by protecting the environment. Our “Adopt-a-
Village” program has been contributing to farming communities in China
since 2005. In 2006, more than 4,600 Samsung Electronics employees
volunteered for 151 different activities organized for these “adopted”
communities.
We provide teaching aids and school supplies to the villages’
daycare centers and small schools. We also help to replace old facilities
in schools and to install administrative offices. Our people visit the
homes of low-income families in the villages to distribute food and
clothing. The Guangming Daily awarded Samsung Electronics with one
of its Public Benefit Prizes in recognition of our support for Chinese
communities in 2006.
In 2006, our “Digital Hope” program for Southeast Asia continued
to offer young people and people with disabilities opportunities to
experience digital technology. Program funds were used to set up
computer-equipped classrooms in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the
Helping Russian Children with Heart Disease (below)
On Samsung Customers’ Day at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, we
sponsored the staging of Swan Lake and the showing of a film on
how to aid children suffering from congenital heart disease. Funds
raised from the event and a donation from Samsung were delivered
to assist these children.
Charity Event at Turin Games (above)
Johann Koss heads the Right to Play (RPT) organization.
The 3-time Gold Medal winner at Lillehammer thanked Samsung for
supporting the RTP, which is changing the lives of children around
the globe. Samsung has been involved with the program since the
2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.