The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Smilegate donates tablet PCs to low-income students as classes go online

By Kim Byung-wook

Published : Nov. 25, 2020 - 16:58

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From left: Smilegate President Yang Dong-ki, Seongnam City Youth Foundation CEO Jin Mi-seok and SundayToz producer Lee Hyun-woo pose for a photo at a donation ceremony in an auditorium at the Seongnam City Youth Foundation on Tuesday. (Smilegate) From left: Smilegate President Yang Dong-ki, Seongnam City Youth Foundation CEO Jin Mi-seok and SundayToz producer Lee Hyun-woo pose for a photo at a donation ceremony in an auditorium at the Seongnam City Youth Foundation on Tuesday. (Smilegate)
South Korean game company Smilegate said Wednesday it has donated 50 tablet PCs worth 30 million won ($27,100) to eight youth institutions, providing the tools for students from low-income households to take online classes amid the coronavirus outbreak.

For the donation, Smilegate Foundation’s Hope Studio collaborated with SundayToz, a Korean mobile game developer. After launching a donation campaign among users of its popular puzzle game Anipang 4, SundayToz raised 30 million won, which was later delivered to Hope Studio. Then, Hope Studio purchased 50 tablet PCs and delivered them to the Seongnam City Youth Foundation.

SundayToz made the donation indirectly via Hope Studio to utilize Smilegate’s already established network in the local community. Smilegate, whose headquarters is based in the Pangyo neighborhood of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has reached out to children in Seongnam for years, opening care centers for children with intellectual disabilities and donating more than 300 million won to provide field trips to 1,200 unprivileged children.

“We hope this donation can help children from low-income households and young students who are at the blind spot of online education,” Smilegate Foundation director Kwon Yeon-ju said.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)