“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.“
(Helen Keller)
When hearts come together, they can change someone’s day and spark the kind of change a community truly needs.This is the spirit behind SK Innovation’s V-Week (Volunteer Week). Year after year, employees across the organization show up because they believe it matters. When their efforts combine, tables get filled, children smile a little wider, and the environment around us gets a little more care.
This year, as in years past, the slogan “Stand Together, Make It Better” guided volunteer activities across SK Innovation affiliate workplaces at home and abroad — and V-Week was the moment when that collective spirit came together most vividly. From supporting children with developmental disabilities and food-insecure youth, to protecting the environment and improving digital access for seniors, employees turned their care into action. Here’s a look back at SK Innovation’s V-Week from the first half of 2026.
| 7,300 Hours of Giving, Made Together
SK Innovation runs V-Week twice a year — once in the first half and once in the second — bringing together employees from every affiliate workplace, domestic and international, for a concentrated week of volunteering. The H1 2026 V-Week ran from May 11 to 22, and once again, the enthusiasm was palpable.
One of the reasons participation has remained strong year after year is the sheer variety of ways to get involved. Programs are designed to reflect real social issues close to everyday life, and employees can choose from hands-on field activities or remote participation — whichever fits their schedule and interests. Some joined existing programs; others designed their own. Either way, the result was the same: a ripple of warmth reaching the people and places that needed it most.
Over the course of 12 days, approximately 2,400 employees took part, logging a combined total of around 7,300 volunteer hours. That number is more than a statistic — it’s a reflection of how deeply a culture of giving has taken root in the daily lives of SK Innovation affiliates’ members.
| For Every Child, a Moment That Matters
A row of seats at the cinema, shared laughter at the same scene on screen. Hands carefully packing boxes with the things a child needs to get through the day. Quiet focus as fingers tie knot after knot, each one carrying a wish for a sick child to get better soon. The child-focused volunteer activities reached children in very different circumstances — but each activity carried the same intention: to let them know they are seen, supported, and not alone.
The “A Day Out with Children with Developmental Disabilities” program gave children the chance to enjoy cultural experiences — like going to the movies — that are easy to take for granted. Employees sat beside the children, shared in their laughter, chatted before and after the screening, and helped them navigate small but meaningful moments of independence, like purchasing their own popcorn. SK Innovation has been running its Happy Dream program since 2016, supporting the growth and social independence of people with developmental disabilities through activities that include cultural outings, nature experiences, and handball classes. SK Incheon Petrochem, an SK Innovation petrochemical affiliate, also runs the Hopeful Sports Class, offering tailored programs to help children with developmental disabilities in the area grow up healthier and more confidently.
For children at risk of missing meals, the Happy Box program stepped in. Designed to bridge the gaps that open up during school breaks or lapses in care, the program had employees packing boxes with ready-to-eat foods and daily essentials — making sure nothing important was left out. Tucked inside each box was something extra: a handwritten letter of encouragement from the employees who packed it. The Happy Box wasn’t just a care package. It was a message that someone out there was thinking of them.
Meanwhile, for children spending long stretches of time in hospital wards — many battling leukemia or other serious illnesses — employees made Wish bracelets to send a message of support. Across the country, employees tied each knot with a quiet hope that the child receiving it would recover soon. Over 200 bracelets were delivered to hospitals nationwide through the Make-A-Wish Foundation*, a global nonprofit dedicated to granting the wishes of children with critical illnesses.
*The Make-A-Wish Foundation was established after the Arizona Department of Public Safety fulfilled the wish of Chris Greicius, a seven-year-old boy with leukemia who dreamed of becoming a police officer. His mother Linda and officer Frank Shankwitz went on to found the organization in 1980.
| Caring for the Spaces We Share
The Guardians of Biodiversity program — a recurring V-Week fixture — focuses on removing invasive plant species from parks and riverside areas around the city, helping native plants thrive and restoring ecological balance. This year, the program expanded its reach to include Gyeonghuigung Palace in Seoul and the National Daejeon Memorial Cemetery.
At Gyeonghuigung, employees strolled through the palace grounds, tending to flower beds and tidying up the paths and green spaces that visitors walk through every day. It was a chance to care for a piece of cultural heritage hiding in plain sight — and a reminder that shared public spaces belong to all of us.
At the Daejeon National Cemetery, employees from the Daejeon workplace took part in a new initiative called The “Guardians of Cemetery” — an extension of the Guardians of Biodiversity program. They cleaned and tidied the memorial grounds, and planted Korean national flags as a gesture of respect for those who gave their lives in service to the country. It was about more than keeping a space clean. It was about honoring the memory and meaning held within it.
The Guardians of Biodiversity program was held four times across Seoul and Daejeon in the first half of 2026, continuing from last year. Employees worked to remove plant species that disrupt local ecosystems, helping to restore the natural balance of the areas around their workplaces.
That same care for nature extended to a creative upcycling activity, where discarded pallets were given a second life — transformed into nesting boxes for birds and returned to nature. Yu Jae-hwan from SK On’s Laser Application Technology team, was among those who took part. “Watching something that was about to be thrown away become a cozy home for birds, and then returning it to nature, was incredibly rewarding,” he said. “It went beyond volunteering — it was a lesson in the value of the environment and what it means to coexist.”
This commitment to the environment traveled beyond Korea’s borders as well. Employees at SK Primacor Europe — the European arm of SK Geo Centric — joined SK Innovation’s EnviRun for the Earth campaign, picking up and sorting waste scattered around the Bonavista area near their plant in Tarragona, Spain. In total, they collected 84.6 kg of garbage, making a tangible contribution to the local environment.
From palace grounds and memorial spaces to riverside greenways and a plant site in Spain, the environmental efforts of SK Innovation affiliates in the first half of 2026 expanded well beyond traditional cleanup. It became a way of tending to the spaces where people gather, remember, and belong — and to the living ecosystems that surround them.
| A Warm Meal, a Friendly Check-In: Looking Out for Our Neighbors
For some people, a meal is more than food. It’s a sign that someone remembered them — that in the middle of a long, quiet day spent alone, the world hadn’t forgotten they were there. Regular, consistent support for seniors and vulnerable neighbors who struggle with meal preparation goes far beyond nutrition. It becomes one of the most meaningful forms of everyday care.
With that in mind, SK Innovation runs its Meal Sharing program during V-Week each year, bringing warm meals and genuine connection to neighbors in need.
Activities took place near major worksites in Seoul, Daejeon, Seosan, and Jeungpyeong, Korea. Employees visited free meal centers, senior welfare centers, and social welfare centers, where they helped prepare food, serve meals, and clean up afterward — spending time face-to-face with the seniors and community members they were there to support. A few words exchanged over a warm plate of food made each meal feel like more than just sustenance.
Alongside the meal program, employees also visited elderly individuals living alone through the Sharing Happiness, Carrying on Love program, helping to ease the isolation that can quietly settle into a solitary life. The Memory Keeping program offered seniors digital cognitive training activities designed to support dementia prevention — using technology as a bridge to mental engagement and meaningful social interaction.
Beyond these organized programs, employees also found their own ways to give back — donating blood, caring for abandoned dogs, and cleaning up areas around their workplaces — expanding the reach of SK Innovation’s social contribution efforts through self-designed, grassroots participation.
From hands that prepared a warm meal to voices that offered a kind word, these layered acts of care gave every participating employee a chance to look a little more closely at the lives of their neighbors. Small gestures, gathered together, made someone’s day a little fuller — and reminded everyone involved of why giving back matters.
| From Today’s Giving to Tomorrow’s Value
The V-Week in the first half of 2026 was a journey that stretched from the neighborhoods next door to historic sites in the heart of the city and volunteer sites halfway around the world — each step guided by a commitment to making a positive difference.
Those 7,300 hours — built up one person at a time, through voluntary and heartfelt participation — gave growing children new experiences and reasons to dream. They brought warmth and companionship to seniors living alone and to neighbors who needed a little extra support. And they left communities with cleaner, more cared-for spaces, deepening the meaning of what it means to grow together.
The belief at the heart of it all: that small acts, when they come together, can make someone’s day genuinely better. V-Week was proof of that — written not in words, but in footsteps. SK Innovation affiliates will carry the warmth built through this year’s activities forward, continuing to show up for marginalized neighbors and communities through everyday acts of giving that never stop.
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