At 11 AM on the 24^th (Tuesday) of last month, Tongil Group held the “2017 Tongil Group Hope Dream Salary Round-Off Donation Ceremony” on the first floor of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification Headquarters building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Approximately 30 people, including representatives of the Tongil Group employees and the donation beneficiaries, were present at the ceremony as the 57 million won collected from their salaries and 43 million won for a multicultural development fund, totaling 100 million won, was donated. Since they began collecting donations in 2012, they have gathered a grand total of 200 million won.

The head of Tongil Group’s Overseas Cooperation Headquarters, In-Yong Ryu, shared in his progress report, “The 1,411 employees who decided to participate in this project donated less than 10,000 won of their salary each month, totaling in 51 million won last year. We will collect votes from the public and the Tongil Group employees through a transparent online and offline process and select five areas that will receive the collected funds.”

Of this total amount, 20 million won was donated to the “building of Nepal Hope School,” 15.3 million won ($13,000 USD) was donated to the “Lebanon’s school for Syrian child refugees,” 14 million won was donated to “the creation of jobs for children of multicultural families,” 4.5 million won was donated to a “program to foster communication and understanding between the parents and adolescents of multicultural families,” and 3.2 million won was donated to “partnering with the Air Force to support the learning of children of low-income households.”

FFWPU Vice-President Hyun-Young Lee gave the congratulatory message. “Out of the many kinds of discrimination and polarization that exists in Korean society, the most painful kind is when someone’s future and dreams become polarized. Depending on the environment that people are born into, some may have the privilege to achieve their dreams, while to others, it is a luxury to have even a small dream. Tongil Group’s Salary Round-Off Project is the starting point of supporting the dreams of those who have been discriminated against and reducing social discrimination. Just as the small amount donated from each of these salaries has become a very large amount, this project will create a foundation for helping many people accomplish their dreams.”

Representing the Tongil Group employees, Tongil Group Chairman Yun-Ki Choi presented the representatives of the beneficiary groups with 57 million won at the Donation Ceremony. In addition, a 43 million won donation was presented to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification for the “Development of Outstanding Multicultural Individuals Fund” as a separate donation to help the children of multicultural families stand out in various field in Korean society and become global leaders.

Tongil Group oversees 14 business, including, Ilhwa, Yongpyong Resort, Segye Ilbo, Ocean Resort, Pine Ridge Resort, Sunwon Construction, Il Shin Stone Co., Ltd., TIC, Elbon International, Saeilo, Seil Travel, JC, etc. In 2013, the project collected 24 million won; in 2014, 35 million won; in 2015, 41 million won; in 2016, 40 million won; totaling 200 million won, purely from the Salary Round-Off donations.

In 2013, the collected money was donated to support medical expenses of multicultural families, the purchase of industrial sewing machines for the North Korean Defector’s social enterprise “Hope Apparel,” and the Cheonghae soccer team and equipment for children of multicultural families. In 2014, the collected money was donated to support medical expenses of multicultural families and children of families without parents/senior citizens living alone/premature babies. In 2015, the collected money was donated to support elementary education of Syrians in refugee camps and scholarships for alternative schooling for children of multicultural families. In 2016, the collected money was donated to distribute Children’s Day gifts to nursery facilities and child care centers, support a family camp for disabled children of multicultural families, a program to foster communication and understanding between the parents and adolescents of multicultural families, and a course exploration camp for adolescents of multicultural families. In this way, Tongil Group has continuously invested into marginalized groups of society.