Fighting for social causes is among the core responsibilities that every company is shouldered with. LG Group takes the job as seriously and applies unique ideas to do it the “LG way.”

Along with the usual acts of charity, such as making monetary donations, sending employees abroad as volunteers and sending food aid, LG adds its own flavor: it uses its leading-edge technology to provide support in fields that had difficulty receiving help.

“This is our way of saying thank you to our customers and giving back what we can to the underprivileged,” LG officials said.

The countries -- as well as regions in Korea -- that receive such support from the electronics maker are diverse.

In Ethiopia -- the only country in Africa that sent soldiers during the Korean War to fight alongside South Koreans -- LG Group runs “LG Hope Community,” a campaign for rebuilding run-down Ethiopian towns and villages and helping them to become self-reliant.

For the project, LG has promised to help lay the necessary infrastructure, such as roads, electricity and drinking water. For this, LG Electronics’ technology will be critical as its methods for generating solar energy and reprocessing water will have to be tapped.

Professors from Cheonan Yonam College, which is run by LG, will be dispatched to the villages every year to help raise crops and livestock so that the farms can harvest an income.

Employees from LG, meanwhile, send donations for scholarship foundations in the country to help educate the children and grandchildren of those who fought in Korea.

“This is only a small part of what we do, but we believe it has a lot of meaning for both us and Ethiopia,” said LG. “It’s a token of our friendship, and we at LG believe social contribution is not only about money and donations, but helping lay the foundation for a better society and country in general, including relations with other countries.”

The company recently gave scholarships to 50 Ethiopian descendents of Korean War veterans to get them through high school.

LG said it plans to work together with a nongovernmental organization to continue its work in Ethiopia.

“We want to help them so that they can help themselves,” officials added.

Another example of how LG uses its resources for charity work is the LED electronic display board that the company operates in Times Square of New York City.

The company runs charity campaigns every day -- up to 40 of them -- and its electronic boards in Seoul have also run similar campaigns.

To cater to the smartphone trend, LG has developed an application, the first of its kind, called “WeFeedBack” to support social causes.

Those who use LG smart TVs can download the application to watch news and videos on how countries are stricken by starvation and poverty. They can also make donations through the application.

These donations can be tracked on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter. The money is used to provide free lunches and preserve natural surroundings in countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

In other parts of Asia, LG operates the “Hope Family” program, which started in October of 2010 when the company signed on with the United Nations’ World Food Program.

LG selected 7,000 underprivileged families under the Hope Family program to support them. The families are encouraged to help out in projects for building infrastructure, such as laying roads or building facilities. In return, the families are offered food and cash aid. Half of the families have women as their heads; this is so that the donations can go to more women, LG explained.

Recently, the company handed over food aid to 5,000 underprivileged families in Cambodia. The aid is given in the form of rice, beans and olive oil.

In other ways of helping out, LG held an essay contest for the children of 6,000 students who belong to the “Hope School,” a campaign the company devised to help the kids of less-privileged backgrounds.

LG has been offering its support to six elementary and middle schools in China, with the scope of its assistance ranging from electronics goods and equipment to programs for educating both the students and teachers.

The winners of the contest were given a four-day, expenses-paid trip to Korea. The group was shown around LG headquarters in Yeouido and even watched LG Twins baseball games.

“LG was the best present ever for me,” said Xiao Xiyue, a 13-year old who won the essay contest by writing about how LG helped reopen his school in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan region. “They are why I am able to go to school again, and now I’ve even been on a trip to Korea.”

LG Group’s Russian office has also helped out the local community in April this year.

The office operated the “Train of Innovations and Kind Deeds” with Russia’s Ministry of Health and Social Development.

The train made rounds to eight major cities in Russia for a span of 10 days to enlist support for blood donations.

Why such donations were important and necessary was shown on LG Cinema 3-D televisions on the train. More than 1,000 people ended up participating in the program, LG said.

The company became the first corporate partner for the Russian government in its campaigns for championing blood donations. For these and other deeds, LG was the first foreign company to be selected by the Russian government to be recognized for its social contribution efforts in 2010.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)