SK Materials (CEO Lee Yong-wook) is taking the lead in supporting starving children in Yeongju City.

SK Materials (CEO Lee Yong-wook), a semiconductor and display materials specialist, signed a business agreement with the social contribution network Happy Alliance and Yeongju City on the 30th for the 'Yeongju Happy Axe Project'.

The signing ceremony held at the Yeongju City Hall main building was attended by Yeongju Mayor Jang Wook-hyun, SK Materials CEO Lee Yong-wook, and Happy Alliance Secretariat (Happy Narae) Director Cho Min-young.

The 'Happy Two Meals Project' is a project that solves the problem of children at risk of hunger by establishing a regional cooperation system for zero hunger among Happy Alliance, companies, local governments, and local communities so that children who are in blind spots of welfare and cannot eat enough can receive at least two meals a day.

Through this agreement, Happy Lunchboxes will be delivered for a total of 10 months to approximately 50 children in the region who are at risk of missing meals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The social enterprise Sobaek Local Food is responsible for manufacturing and delivering lunch boxes. We also plan to cooperate in diet management and monitoring.

After the agreement period, Yeongju City plans to work to establish a safety net to practically resolve the problem of children at risk of starvation in the region, including linking it to the system integration and meal support project.

“We hope to quickly resolve the problem of children skipping meals that society faces by creating synergy with Yeongju City and SK Materials, which continuously promote policies for the socially disadvantaged,” said Jo Min-young, head of the Happy Alliance Secretariat (Happy Narae). “We will make every effort to utilize the capabilities and financial resources of each participating organization to the fullest extent possible so that a strong safety net can be established for children in need in the region.”

Mayor Jang Wook-hyun of Yeongju City said, “We expect this agreement to provide practical assistance in resolving the problem of children skipping meals in the region due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, as well as eliminating blind spots in welfare.”

SK Materials CEO Lee Yong-wook said, “As a member of the Yeongju community, I am happy to be able to participate in this wonderful project,” and added, “I hope that this ‘Happy Axe Project’ will have a positive butterfly effect that will spread not only to Yeongju but also to other surrounding local governments, and will expand even further.”

Meanwhile, SK Materials has been actively working with Yeongju City to foster a collaborative community. Earlier this year, SK Materials participated in the "Share a Meal Warm-tact Project" led by SK Group affiliates, supporting vulnerable seniors living alone in Yeongju. Furthermore, the company is fulfilling its corporate social responsibility by installing rapid charging stations for electric wheelchairs to ensure mobility for people with severe disabilities and other mobility challenges. Furthermore, as a member company, the company actively supports the Happy Alliance's efforts to address child hunger by delivering Happy Boxes filled with necessities to children in Yeongju.