ESG Practice Recognized
Selected as '2023 Community Contribution Recognized Institution'
'SocialN', Localized Community Activities
'DreamN', Support Activities Including 'Georeumen Innoen'
'EcoN', Environmental Activities Such as Tree Planting and Zero Food Waste
HK Innoen recently announced on the 1st that it has been selected as a new recognized institution under the ‘2023 Community Contribution Recognition System’ organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare.
The Community Contribution Recognition System is a program that acknowledges companies and institutions that have consistently engaged in community contribution activities through partnerships with non-profit organizations. Once selected as a recognized company, they can receive various preferential benefits such as management consulting support from sponsoring organizations and reduced fees for International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification audits.
This high evaluation in terms of systematic and continuous operation of social contribution programs and investment of social contribution resources is attributed to HK Innoen’s efforts to practice social responsibility throughout our society based on professionalism, sincerity, and sustainability under the social contribution vision of ‘Connecting to a Better Future.’
HK Innoen has been promoting social contribution activities centered on the ‘3Ns’: ▲Coexistence with the community (Social N), ▲Support for children and adolescents (Dream N), and ▲Contribution to a sustainable environment (Eco N).
Working Together with the Community... ‘Social N’
First, in the ‘Social N’ area of coexistence with the community, various activities have been carried out mainly in regions where major business sites are located through business agreements with local governments and non-profit organizations.
A health kit support ceremony for the elderly in Majang-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi, where HK Innoen's business site is located, is underway. [Photo by HK Innoen]
This year, a new rural-urban coexistence fund was established to deliver health kits composed of HK Innoen products such as masks, health functional foods, and moisturizing lotion to 1,100 elderly people in vulnerable groups in Seoul, Osong in Cheongju, Dae-so in Eumseong County, Chungbuk, and Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province, where the business sites are located. In addition, through the Senior Citizens’ Day campaign over three years since 2021, health kits have been provided to more than 2,600 elderly people, contributing to the welfare improvement of elderly residents in the community by operating a health support campaign for the third consecutive year.
Disaster relief activities are also actively pursued. Donations, beverages, and quarantine supplies were delivered to wildfire-affected areas in Gangwon Province’s Gangneung City and Gyeongbuk Province to assist disaster victims, and donations were also made to the earthquake-affected areas in Turkey (T?rkiye) to contribute to regional reconstruction.
Supporting Children and Adolescents Together Through Walking... ‘Dream N’
A representative social contribution program in the ‘Dream N’ section supporting children and adolescents is ‘Georeum-en Innoen’ (Walking with Innoen), which is now in its third year. This activity supports children and adolescents such as those with juvenile diabetes, children of brain-dead organ donors, and children with pediatric obesity through easy-to-participate walking donations.
HK Innoen's representative social contribution program, 'Georeumen Innoen,' has successfully completed its fifth season. This campaign, aimed at supporting families of organ donors, succeeded in gathering 1.7 billion steps, more than three times the goal of 500 million steps. [Image source=BigWalk]
Through the past four campaigns, a cumulative total of 4.62 billion steps were collected, delivering a total of 200 million KRW in scholarships, while also achieving environmental conservation effects such as reducing 722 tons of greenhouse gases and planting 110,000 pine trees. Last month, the fifth campaign was conducted with a goal of 500 million steps to support families of organ donors. The campaign collected 1.66189 billion steps over one month, exceeding the goal by more than three times.
Additionally, the ‘Dream Start’ project, which supports education for children and adolescents in vulnerable groups in Cheongju City, is regularly sponsored, and employees personally deliver Christmas gifts to patients at the Seoul Children’s Hospital through the annual ‘Secret Santa’ event.
Practicing for a Sustainable Earth... ‘Eco N’
‘Eco N’ activities aimed at contributing to a sustainable environment in the local community are also steadily carried out. Starting from ‘Resource Circulation Day’ on September 6 last year, the ‘U GREEN?’ eco-friendly campaign was implemented at the in-house caf? of HK Innoen’s Seoul office in Jung-gu, Seoul, encouraging the reduction of disposable cups and the use of tumblers, reducing approximately 70,000 disposable cups over one year.
Furthermore, every April 22, ‘Earth Day,’ employees plant trees directly through the ‘Healthy Forest, Comfortable Breath’ campaign, and at the Osong headquarters in Chungbuk, a ‘Leftover Zero (ZERO)’ campaign to reduce food waste is conducted monthly. These activities aim to respond to environmental issues such as climate change and fine dust and to preserve biodiversity.
In particular, this year, HK Innoen published its first social contribution white paper, which comprehensively summarizes the major social contribution activities and achievements over the past year. The social contribution white paper, which organizes HK Innoen’s social contribution system, promotion direction, major projects, and achievements, will be published regularly every year starting with this first edition.
An HK Innoen social contribution officer stated, “We are promoting social contribution activities from a long-term perspective in connection with the pharmaceutical and bio industries,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to create a sustainable future while exerting a positive influence on society.”
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