Social Contribution Activities
US-Japan Youth Baseball Exchange
Funai Electric supports the US-Japan Youth Baseball Exchange, a program organized by the Red Sox Foundation, the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox. The program enables children from Japan and the United States to explore the customs and culture of each other's country through their shared love of baseball. In the most recent exchange, from July 28 to August 7, 2012, twelve youths and two coaches selected from youth baseball teams in Kyoto and Chiba visited Boston to engage in an international cultural exchange. The youths received baseball instruction from coaches from the Red Sox and local universities and played friendly games with several local youth baseball teams. In addition, a commemorative event was held at Fenway Park, the home field of the Boston Red Sox, in the park's centennial year.
The next youth baseball team from Japan will be welcomed in a ceremony at Fenway Park in August 2014. (Press release)
【Red Sox Foundation】
The Red Sox Foundation is a charitable organization operated by the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball club that was founded in 2002. The primary focus of the foundation is in serving the health, education, recreation, and social service needs of children and families in the New England region.
Support for the Make-A-Wish Foundation (Sponsored by a Leading U.S. Mass Merchandiser)
Since 2002, the Funai Group has supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which is sponsored by a leading mass merchandiser in the United States.
Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. The Foundation's mission reflects the life-changing impact that a Make-A-Wish experience has on children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities.
In 2013, we hosted the Make-A-Wish hospitality event at two NASCAR races at Richmond International Raceway, The ToyotaCare 250 and the Virginia 529 College Savings 250. Each event hosted 50 excited Make-A-Wish children, parents and guests at a pre-race hospitality area complete with food, games and fun.
This is not only a great way for other "Wish Kids" to interact with each other, but a great way for them to fulfill their wishes to attend a NASCAR race and meet their favorite drivers!
We also contribute to local communities by supporting social contribution activities of other major national and local retail chains and cooperating in social service activities in the cities and counties of New York and Los Angeles, where Funai Group sales subsidiaries are located.
Support for Japanese Week in Brussels 2013 and 2014 (Events Commemorating the Great East Japan Earthquake)
Japanese Week in Brussels is an event jointly sponsored by the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, the Japanese Embassy in Belgium, and other public- and private-sector organizations to show solidarity with the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and express fervent hopes for recovery from the disaster, which had an enormous impact on Japan. We have supported the event since 2013, along with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Kobe University, and other organizations.
2013 program (Click to enlarge)
2014 pamphlet (Click to enlarge)
Assistance for Victims of Natural Disasters
Funai Electric helps the unfortunate victims of natural disasters around the world in various ways.
To assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the United States and caused enormous damage in the summer of 2005, our subsidiary in the U.S, donated 5,000 compact TV/VCR combination units. This donation sparked a major movement of support activities. For instance, it led to a subsequent donation of 100,000 videos featuring popular Disney characters by The Walt Disney Company and involving donations not only to evacuation areas, but also to underfunded educational institutions.
The Chao Phraya River in Thailand flooded in the summer and autumn of 2011, after the monsoon season, inundating the river basin for three months. The flooding caused extensive damage, such as the inundation of 58 provinces from Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand to Bangkok, located in central Thailand in the Chao Phraya Sub-basin. We donated two million baht (approximately ¥5 million) as relief money for use in supplying food and relief supplies to evacuees through Pak Chong City, where our Thai plant is located.
Most recently, to assist victims of Typhoon Haiyan, a major typhoon that struck the central Philippines in November 2013, we donated a total of ¥3.9 million (equivalent to 1.7 million pesos in local currency) through ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc., a support organization in the Philippines. The relief money was used for the rescue and assistance of victims of the disaster.
In addition, we assisted victims of the Sumatra Earthquake of 2004 and the Java Earthquake of 2006 in Indonesia and the Great Sichuan Earthquake of 2008 in China by contributing relief money through the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Hong Kong Red Cross.