[One Day Ten Thousand Steps] 7.7 Billion Steps, 10 Million Steps, 6-Minute Walk... Walking for Donation

More companies are catching two rabbits with one stone by combining walking and donations. It has become a trend in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) management that allows them to take care of employees' health while contributing to the local community.

YG Entertainment is conducting a non-face-to-face walking donation campaign called ‘YG Walking Festival’ from May 1 to 14 to celebrate its 27th anniversary. YG employees use the BigWalk application to walk 10 million steps in daily life over two weeks and aim to collect 1,000 ‘likes’ filled with fans’ support on the ‘YG WITH’ Instagram posts. This will be converted and donated through the international relief and development organization Oxfam to support ethnic minorities and youth in Nepal. The campaign aims to enhance cultural equity for youth in rural mountainous areas of Nepal who walk 2 to 4 hours round trip 5 km daily to attend school and to provide them with professional digital competency enhancement education.

On May 3rd, Ham Jin-gyu, President of Korea Expressway Corporation (right), is handing over a donation to Lee Jung-tae-young, Secretary General of Save the Children (left) at the headquarters of Korea Expressway Corporation.
[Photo by Korea Expressway Corporation]

KB Kookmin Card has an employee hope walking donation campaign called Wish Dream (WE:SH DREAM). Reflecting the meaning of the slogan ‘We Wish you happiness’ of the company’s flagship product ‘Wish (WE:SH) Card,’ if employees achieve the target donation step count of 100 million steps in a month, the project supports the cost of fulfilling children’s wishes. On Children’s Day, 50 million KRW raised was donated as wish fulfillment support funds for children from low-income vulnerable groups. The donated funds were distributed to nationwide local children’s centers where the selected children belong after collecting wish fulfillment stories from vulnerable children through the Korea Local Children’s Center Association.

Geumseong Publishing is also conducting a walking donation campaign called ‘A Happier Children’s Day Together’ to commemorate Children’s Day, open to all including nationwide Purunet teachers, members, and headquarters employees. If the target step count of 100 million steps is achieved, books will be donated to vulnerable children through Save the Children. The campaign is characterized by adding shared value through carbon neutrality achieved by walking activities as well as donations. The campaign runs for one month until May 24, and those who want to participate can install the BigWalk application on their smartphones and select the Purunet campaign ‘A Happier Children’s Day Together’ to donate their steps.

The Korean branch of global healthcare company Sanofi is conducting the ‘Good Steps 6-Minute Walk for Rare Disease Patients’ campaign on the 23rd to mark Rare Disease Day. The Good Steps 6-Minute Walk is a citizen participation public campaign by Sanofi to raise social awareness of rare diseases. Inspired by the ‘6-minute walk’ test used to measure disease improvement in rare disease patients, this campaign gathers participants’ steps to raise awareness of rare diseases and support patients. This year’s global rare disease campaign message from Sanofi is ‘Rare, we are many.’ It implies that nearly 300 million people worldwide suffer from rare diseases and that the number of suspected rare disease patients who have not yet received an accurate diagnosis is also large. The 9th ‘Good Steps 6-Minute Walk,’ which announces the start of the campaign online, can be participated in through the mobile walking app ‘WalkOn.’ Participation is open until the 22nd. Participants who donate their steps receive a mobile donation certificate.

Korea Expressway Corporation donated a total of 110 million KRW to Save the Children on the 3rd to support vulnerable children and youth in celebration of Family Month. They provided agricultural product packages worth 55 million KRW to 1,100 vulnerable children in the Gyeongbuk region and carried out a ‘Study Room Decoration Project’ worth 55 million KRW for 110 vulnerable households with youth nationwide. To raise funds for this donation, the corporation conducted the ‘7.7 Billion Steps (symbolizing the opening date of the Gyeongbu Expressway, July 7) Walking Challenge’ since April. About 80,000 people participated, achieving 19.3 billion steps, greatly exceeding the goal.

Incheon Port Authority is conducting the ‘Sharing Walking Campaign’ until the 30th of next month, linking employees’ steps and donations to practice a culture of sharing in the local community. Now in its third year, the ‘Sharing Walking Campaign’ sets a total target step count for IPA employees and donates a certain amount if the goal is achieved. IPA set a target of 61 million steps, which requires 200 people to walk more than 5,000 steps daily for 61 days during the campaign. If the goal is met, 10 million KRW will be donated to the ‘Haneulsaem Learning Center,’ an alternative school for at-risk youth located in Seo-gu, Incheon, to support education and meal expenses. Last year, through the ‘2nd Sharing Walking Campaign’ with 186 employees participating, IPA donated 10 million KRW for medical expenses and 100 blood donation certificates for vulnerable groups.