● Overcoming CP and Discovering New Hopes with Help
- SK chemicals launches the Health Guardian program in celebration
of the Day of Persons with Disabilities.
- The company funds the operation of a child with severe CP.
SK chemicals (led by CEO Lee Mun-seok) announced on April 18 the launching of a new CSR program, the Hope Maker Health Guardian, which, in celebration of the Day of Persons with Disabilities, will expand the range of medical help and benefits for the vulnerable and the needy.
The Health Guardian Program, as part of SK Chemical’s CSR system, the Hope Maker, is intended to provide medical expenses for the disadvantaged and the underprivileged so that they can receive the surgery and other forms of medical treatments they require. The company intends to widen the scope of its beneficiaries to include increasing numbers of people with disabilities and people with low income.
The first beneficiary of the program was a fourth-grader enrolled at Ujin School who was born with a severe cerebral palsy (CP). The boy’s body continued to move and stiffen in ways he did not intend and greatly disrupted his daily life. With SK chemicals’ help, however, the boy received the surgery he needed, and has recovered so much so that he can now attend classes at his school.
He wrote a letter to the company, thanking its members. “I loved studying at Ujin School, but it began to become really difficult for me to continue learning because of the worsening of my condition. Thanks to your help, I have become able to come to school again. My favorite subject is the Korean language. I want to study hard so that I can become a writer of children’s stories that give children dreams and hopes.”
SK chemicals has renovated its website (www.skchemicals.com) to improve the access to it by people who may need help from the new program. The company even received the Web Accessibility Certificate from the Korea Web Accessibility Accreditation Council. The renovation involved converting images into texts so that the blind may still understand the website’s contents using a screen reader and people with difficulties using a mouse can also navigate around the website using a keyboard only.
SK chemicals has planned a number of new activities and programs in addition to the Health Guardian that will contribute to the improvement of quality of life for people with disabilities.
A spokesperson for the company explained: “Life and health are the prime values for all humankind. Our goal is to ensure the equality of medical care and benefits for everyone, including people with disabilities and low income, so that they can lead lives free of worries about health.”
Ujin School is a special education institution established by the government in 2000 to provide effective learning for children with severe disabilities. SK chemicals has been a sponsor of the school since 2004, with employees raising funds and volunteering for works.