'Donations must continue'

Chun Heung-youn, the chief fundraising officer of the Community Chest of Korea, speaks during a recent interview with The Korea Times at the agency’s headquarters in Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Park Si-soo Red pins shaped like three cherries, the emblem of the Community Chest of Korea (CCK), attached to people’s jacket collars used to be a proud symbol indicating that they were donors for the needy. From presidents to politicians and primetime TV news presenters, many public figures and celebrities sported the pins on their jacket lapels, promoting the charity group’s year-end fundraising campaign. For some fashion-conscious citizens, it was a seasonal accessory item boosting the year-end festive mood. This year, however, they are hardly seen on TV and in other public situations. For politicians, appearing in public with it has become virtually taboo. This sudden shift from a symbol of giving to disgrace is due to the corruption scandal that rocked the organization last month. Some CCK staffers were confirmed to have embezzled donations by falsifying accounting books — and spending it at inappropriate entertainment facilities — during a state audit. The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) also discovered other forms of misconduct in employment, hosting internal events and salary increases. “The last resort of honesty and integrity has collapsed,” a citizen wrote on a message board of the CCK website following the scandal. For Chun Heung-youn, the chief fundraising officer of the scandal-ridden charity group, the centimeter-long, plastic pin has been a year-round item to wear and a great “buttress of pride” in working for the only state-endorsed body to collect donations over the past 12 years. The scandal dealt a devastating blow to Chun’s pride. One day last month, he removed his “pride” from his jacket, for the first time in his 12-year career at the CCK. “I feel really sorry for disappointing so many people,” said Chun in an interview with The Korea Times at the CCK headquarters in downtown Seoul. “We have no face to ask for donations. Adding to my sadness is the scandal hit the bottom line of other charity groups hard.” The corruption scandal has drawn a fierce public outcry. Numerous citizens vehemently vented their frustration in the form of stopping donations — regardless of the host of the fundraising campaign. A survey conducted following the scandal showed nearly 40 percent of salaried men gave the cold shoulder to all year-end fundraising campaigns, reflecting a widespread distrust of charity groups. Despite frozen public sentiment, Chun stressed the need for donations. “Donations must go on. Donating is an act expressing the noble wish of living together. Shrinking donations will take a toll on the needy in the future,” Chun said. “If there is something wrong with a charity group, it must be resolved. But if you stop donations because of the problem, it will cause another problem. Please don’t give up extending your helping hands.” He said, “If a ballpoint pen doesn’t work, you should repair it or change to another one rather than stop writing.” The scandal has brought a wave of painful changes to the CCK — its board members, including the chief, were sacked and of 370,000 listed regular donors, 1,800 have withdrawn their names from the list. Costco Wholesale Korea, a regular donor for a decade, postponed its donation at the request of its employees. The CCK is struggling with all-time low fundraising records — as of Dec. 15, it had collected a mere 10.6 billion won, a 95 percent drop from the money collected during the same period in 2009. The CCK aims to collect a total of 224.2 billion won during its December-January fundraising campaign. One of the most heart-wrenching fallouts from the scandal was meeting his officers with lowered self-esteem, Chun said. “Some of our staffers were receiving abusive phone calls,” he recounted. Now, the CCK is preparing for another start with new leadership. Lee Dong-kurn, the new CCK president who took office last week, promised all-out efforts to regain public trust and implement transparency. “We should be more transparent so that people will learn where their money is going,” Lee said. “We’ll disclose every detail through the Internet about how much money is spent and on what.” The new chairman encouraged people to donate despite the scandal. “People may think we are untrustworthy. But fewer donations mean greater hardship for social welfare centers, especially financially since they are used to receiving funds from us.”

pss@koreatimes.co.kr