Smilegate donates upcycled umbrellas to children's centers

Smilegate has donated upcycled umbrellas — made as part of an organizational culture program — to local children's centers.

The company said Tuesday it donated 83 upcycled umbrellas, crafted by its employees, to the Seongnam City Community Children's Center Association.

The donation grew out of Smilegate's organizational culture program "TokTok Kit," a participatory communication initiative in which team members make things together to spark natural conversation. The theme for this session was "rain and umbrellas." A total of 14 teams took part, sharing stories related to rain and umbrellas while assembling the upcycled pieces.

As they worked, participants answered reflection questions included in the kit — such as "Who has been an umbrella in your life?", "Have you ever been someone else's umbrella?" and "Who on our team is a steady, umbrella-like presence?" — sharing personal experiences and emotions that rarely come up in everyday work conversations.

The finished umbrellas were delivered to the Seongnam City Community Children's Center Association through Smilegate Hope Studio. The association plans to distribute the umbrellas to about 1,400 children who use community children's centers in the area.

"This donation is an example of extending the communication within a team outward into community sharing," said Lee Gwang-hee, head of Smilegate's ER division. "We will consistently create opportunities for employees to naturally understand one another and generate new value together."