POSCO’s 1% Foundation supports veterans, students, local communities

POSCO Group’s 1% Foundation is expanding its community programs, supporting veterans with disabilities, providing hands-on science education for teenagers and funding employee-led projects to address local needs.

The nonprofit foundation, established in 2013, is funded by employee donations of 1 percent of monthly salaries and matching contributions from their companies. As of last year, 38,017 POSCO Group employees participated in the foundation’s donation program.

Since 2020, the foundation has provided advanced assistive devices to veterans, service members and firefighters injured in service, in cooperation with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, which helps identify recipients and assess their needs.

Devices provided so far include a robotic walking aid for a veteran who suffered paralysis of the lower body after a fall during military service and a prosthetic arm for another veteran who lost his right arm in an accident during a coastal surveillance operation.

The government provides support depending on the severity of service-related injuries, but expensive advanced assistive devices, such as robotic prosthetic legs, are not covered by government assistance programs, making private-sector support essential.

Over six years, the program has supported 219 people with a total investment of 6 billion won ($4.52 million).

In 2019, the foundation also launched an education program to introduce middle school students to science through experiments and project-based learning.

The four-day program, open to all first-year middle schoolers in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, brings students to explore technologies related to POSCO’s businesses.

Since its launch, the program has reached over 26,300 students at 201 schools, adding schools in Incheon’s Songdo this year.

The foundation recruits local university students and people with career breaks as instructors, helping create jobs.

Meanwhile, the foundation has been operating an employee-led initiative, Change My Town, since 2019.

POSCO Group employees propose and carry out projects addressing problems in communities near the company’s business sites. The foundation selects projects based on their public benefit, urgency and expected local impact, then provides funding.

Projects have included repairing electrical equipment at disability service centers, building custom furniture for people with limited mobility, renovating playgrounds and installing fire safety equipment in older residents’ homes.

The initiative has supported a total of 666 projects since its launch, with an annual budget of 500 million won.

“The initiative provides employees with a platform to take the lead as change-makers in their communities,” a group official said. “We will continue to fully support employees’ ideas and enthusiasm to bring positive change to local communities.”