Smilegate said on Sept. 1 it donated 83 upcycled umbrellas made by employees through its organisational culture programme to the Seongnam City Community Child Center Association.

The umbrellas were produced through Smilegate’s participatory communication programme Toktok Kit. Toktok Kit is an organisational culture programme in which team members make items together and talk about topics outside work.

Fourteen employee teams took part in the programme. Under the theme of "Rain and umbrellas", they made umbrellas while sharing stories such as who has been an umbrella in their lives, experiences of being someone’s umbrella and who is a reassuring umbrella-like person on the team.

Smilegate delivered the finished umbrellas to the Seongnam City Community Child Center Association via its social contribution foundation, Hope Studio. The association plans to use the umbrellas for about 1,400 children who attend community child centers in the area.

Lee Kwang-hee (이광희), head of Smilegate’s ER unit, said the donation was an example of expanding communication within teams into community sharing. He said the company will continue to provide experiences in which employees understand each other and create new value.