Volunteering has been at the core of Korea Electric Power Corp.’s efforts to fulfill its social responsibility as the nation’s sole supplier of electricity.

KEPCO launched its social volunteer corps in May 2004 under the slogan “Light to the World, Love to the Neighbors” for systematic and specialized volunteer services for the underprivileged.

About 19,600 KEPCO employees in 272 volunteer groups across the nation take part in a variety of programs for social contribution.

The focus of their latest volunteer work has been children and teenagers from low-income families. 

KEPCO established ties with 283 regional children’s centers, provided them with meal services, study materials, cultural experiences and chances to tour company facilities, in addition to improving their electric facilities.

Members of the volunteer corps have been mentoring 721 children at the centers, helping them with their homework and reading.

Having rendered supplies worth 340 million won ($295,000) to the centers in the second half of last year, KEPCO concentrated on supporting the children’s education this year.

Since 2006, the company has offered scholarships and educational instruments to vocational high schools each year and provided students and the faculty with opportunities to tour its electric power facilities. KEPCO has also provided scholarships for 224 excellent electric engineering majors since 2005.

Earlier this year, the company set a record in a corneal donation campaign, with 8,138 employees or 42.2 percent of the entire staff, taking part.

KEPCO offered corrective eye surgeries for 50 visually impaired people with low income ― 40 in Korea and 10 abroad ― and replaced worn out electric facilities at their homes.

Through a company-wide blood donation campaign, KEPCO also delivers more than 1,000 blood donation certificates to the Korean Blood Cancer Association each year sine 2007.

The KEPCO staff has continued to make visits to low-income senior citizens who live alone and centers for the disabled for safety checks, repairs of electric facilities and to replace old lighting.

KEPCO’s philanthropy also reaches low-income households that are unable to pay electricity bills.

A fund made up of donations from employees is being used to pay for electricity supply to low-income households that have limited power because of unpaid bills. About 1.54 billion won was spent to provide electricity to 12,164 homes since 2003.

Since 1999, KEPCO has run photos of missing children in its electricity bills and helped find 106 of them. On Children’s Day last May, about 1,300 employees went out to children’s parks and venues of regional festivals nationwide to put name tags on some 150,000 children to keep them from going missing, in addition to giving out balloons and offering face painting.

The company distributed video clips on preventing children from going missing to around 6,000 elementary schools last year, and to children’s centers across the country this year.

Holiday seasons are prime times for volunteer work. Around last Chuseok in September, about 2,300 members of the volunteer corps, including executives, visited children’s centers, solitary senior citizens, centers for the disabled and rural villages to replace electric facilities, redo wallpaper and flooring, offer meals, help with bathing and chat with residents in addition to delivering 190 million won in gift money.

Ahead of Lunar New Year’s Day in January, about 80 members of KEPCO management visited a center for the visually impaired in Incheon to clean the facility, offer bathing assistance and share conversations.

The KEPCO volunteer corps has provided similar aid to the financially challenged families of men of national merit who sacrificed their lives for their country every June since 2005.

The company also offers cultural experiences for a greater audience by renting its performance hall at low prices, offering tickets to the unprivileged and holding classical music concerts in small towns.

By Kim So-hyun ( sophie@heraldcorp.com)