“Corporate Social Responsibility Can Actually Be a Competitive Advantage.”
                                                                                                                                 – Entrepreneur, Apr.11

In a rapidly changing corporate environment, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming an important survival strategy. According to Nielsen’s Global Consumer Reports on Corporate CSR Activities in 2016, 66 % of people said they would buy corporate products that are committed to positively impacting the environment and society, even if they have to pay more. This proves that the world wants more and more entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic about social contribution.

2018 “Share the Love” Volunteer Festival
Every year in April, Samsung SDS organizes the ‘Sharing the Love’ volunteer festival. Here is a warm and loving CSR story created by SDS all over the world in April. Let’s look at some of them.

As part of the “Share the Love’ volunteer festival, SDS Global Headquarters (SDS HQ) participated in a variety of volunteer activities with approximately 8,200 employees. Some of them made talent donations utilizing the characteristics of IT industry to solve various dysfunction problems caused by IT technology development. For example, they offered IT dysfunction prevention program to children and provided security information education for IT vulnerable classes. They also made the children’s textbooks for the prevention of informatization dysfunction and donated them to local children’s centers.

SDS HQ, offering IT dysfunction prevention program to children

SDS HQ, making children’s textbooks for the prevention of informatization dysfunction

SDS America (SDSA) continued the tradition of giving back to their community, as well as expanding the volunteer program to other office locations. SDSA planned several events that ranged from teaching children to code, restoring greeneries, and other food related activities.

First of all, SDSA volunteers utilized their programing and computer literacy to teach children to code, build a website, create an app or a game, and explore technology in an informal, creative, and social environment.

SDSA, teaching children to code

SDSA also went to plant trees in an urban city where trees and other greeneries are scarce.

Planting trees

In addition, SDSA teamed up with Table to Table, a community-based food rescue program, to collect prepared and perishable food from 200 different donors and partners. The term “rescue” is used because they collect food that would otherwise be thrown out due to rules and regulations. These rescued food are sorted and distributed to people in need, such as soup kitchens, homeless shelters, after-school programs, and homes for the elderly. They re-bagged about 900-1,000 bags of food, which was all distributed on the same day.

Table to Table, food “rescue” program

SDS Asia Pacific (SDSAP) planned two types of community service that employees can join. One type was donation of money to purchase food bundles for the elderly and the other type was volunteering for packing food bundles and distributing them to elderly homes. Volunteers have gathered at the void deck to assemble and pack food bundles.

Packing food bundles and distributing it to the elderly

As part of this event, SDS China (SDSC) held a bazaar to help disadvantaged students. SDSC employees donated unused items to the bazaar and all of the donated items were sold out. The entire proceeds of the bazaar will be used as a scholarship for disadvantaged students.

SDS China (SDSC), showing interest in donated items in the bazaar

SDS China (SDSC), showing interest in donated items in the bazaar

SDS China (SDSC), showing interest in donated items in the bazaar

Overall, the volunteers felt that the love sharing program was a warm and meaningful activity. We hope that the warm story of love and sharing offered by SDS all over the world will continue into the following years.