How Samsung Uses Its Tech Expertise to Help Charities

Samsung threw a D.C. fete last week to celebrate its partnership with the Fisher House Foundation, which builds homes for veterans and their families at times when they're in need of housing. The tech company announced it will donate $500,000 (roughly Rs. 3.3 crores) to the non-profit organization as part of a two-year partnership.

But Samsung's philanthropy extends beyond opening its wallet, said Gregory Lee, the chief executive of Samsung Electronics North America. In an interview with The Washington Post, he spoke passionately about visiting classrooms to talk to students about technology, or visiting patients at paediatric wards.

"We have our own approach to corporate social responsibility that is very hands-on," Lee said in an interview at the event. Everyone at Samsung, including Lee, gets two days each year to go out and work on charitable projects. And Samsung has focused its efforts on a few key issues - including veterans assistance, children's health, and science and tech education - to find initiatives that build on each other and tries to work with the same organizations over time to make a greater impact.

"There's a benefit to a long-term relationship," Lee said.

The Fisher House partnership also demonstrates how Samsung lends its tech clout to its chosen projects. The houses themselves are furnished with Samsung appliances. And Samsung has also given residents tablets that are pre-loaded with apps curated with the needs of veterans in mind, after careful discussion with Fisher House to determine what should be included.

"The things that they've donated will be used," said Ken Fisher, chairman and chief executive of the Fisher House Foundation. "This is not just to showcase what they do."

Samsung's Director of Corporate Citizenship, Ann Woo, said that it was particularly important to the company to be able to provide its tech in the homes, to make them feel more like permanent housing. "We want these people to be say 'I feel normal again,'" she said. "We want them to feel like this is not a hotel room, but a home."

© 2015 The Washington Post