Naver Happybean, a donation platform operated by Naver, announced on the 1st that it is providing coffee truck support for employees at corporate partner companies who have spread positive influence through long-term giving.
Happybean visited the Daejeon plant of corporate partner KT&G, a major South Korean tobacco and ginseng company, on the 26th of last month and provided a coffee truck for employee donors. The coffee truck event was designed to express heartfelt gratitude to KT&G employees who have consistently participated in charitable giving through the Happybean platform and to promote a culture of donation from within the company.
Since 2011, KT&G has returned more than 50 billion won ($37 million) to society through the "KT&G Sangsang Fund," a social contribution fund built on voluntary employee participation. The Sangsang Fund operates on a matching grant system in which the company matches the amount employees donate from their monthly salaries. It runs through a donation petition process where employees identify cases in welfare blind spots and a donation market system where employees choose recipients from submitted cases.
The fund was recently reorganized into five themes: seamless welfare without gaps in care, health support for medically underserved areas, social relationship recovery and support for the long-term unemployed to get back on their feet, and mutual support for overseas Koreans. The reorganization allows employees to participate in more effective charitable activities.
Since 2015, Happybean has served as a donation market partner for the KT&G Sangsang Fund, providing monthly donation stories involving critically ill patients who struggle to afford treatment, low-income families, and international relief organizations in urgent need of help. Happybean also serves as an online fundraising channel to encourage user-participatory donations and plans to disclose transparent spending records and program outcomes for donated funds.
"Thanks to the consistent giving by KT&G employees, we have been able to deliver hope to more neighbors in need," said Lee Mi-kyung, head of Naver Happybean. "Going forward, Happybean will continue to build a sharing ecosystem where companies and platforms thrive together through diverse operational expertise and support programs."