About a year ago, our team was eating cookies in South Korea with Leonard and Esther Kim.

We were there to capture their story, and were invited to their spring business meeting. Leonard and Esther had challenged attendees in advance to make cookies for those standing in long lines, which were used to raise money for children in Korea and around the world.

More than 25,000 cookies were donated and sold that day, raising $30,000.

This year, the cookies were not sold, but instead donated directly to the Korean Red Cross, with 13,200 bags, each containing two cookies, provided with love for children. Using Amway Queen cookware and Amway Nutrilite ingredients, they made chocolate cookies (children’s favorite), walnut cookies (good for brain development) and blueberry cookies (good for the eyes).

At the same event, the World Wide Charity for Children, funded and managed by Amway Business Owners in Korea, contributed 100 million won to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Amway One by One Campaign for Children, with half going to the Korean Red Cross and half going to the Korean Organ Donor Program.

This video tells the story of Leonard and Esther Kim, and the many inspiring Amway Business Owners in Korea working hard to help children reach their potential:

Thanks to Yong-Bom Lee for sharing this update.

Continuing our journey around the world to review the best programs of 2012, we look at two island countries that are among Amway’s top producing markets. Both are innovative in their approach to CSR and helping children.

In Japan, Amway continued to lead in advocacy efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect through the Orange Project during the holidays. Amway was one of the first companies to vocalize this issue, and continues to mobilize its distributors to action.

Amway Japan is also supporting two innovative projects that help children in the greatest need. The first uses a specially trained dog to offer therapeutic services to children in pediatric hospitals. The second is a specialized home for foster children – the first corporate partnership of its kind with the Japanese government and local charitable organizations.

In South Korea, Amway kicked off the Green Frogs Creative Thinker Project, an amazing collaboration between nonprofit, government and university partners, coordinated by Amway and supported by Amway distributors and employees with volunteering and donations. The program works with underprivileged youth and teaches them to solve problems in innovative ways.

We also had an incredible opportunity to visit Leonard and Esther Kim, who are among the most successful Amway distributors in the world. Their success in the Amway business inspired them to form the World Wide Children’s Charity, which mobilizes Amway distributors from across South Korea to help locally, and around the world.

In South Korea, we recently met a group of Amway business leaders that meets faithfully every month at a small office in downtown Seoul.

But the strategies they discuss are not about growing the business. They are looking for the best causes to help children in need.

Leonard and Esther Kim launched the World Wide Charity for Children two years ago, and called on their top leaders to join the board, and invest in the mission. As Amway Founders Crown Ambassadors who have reached the highest levels of accomplishment in the business, they know that helping others is a privilege—and an expectation—of success.

While each of the leaders has skills and drive that have made them successful, they know that they don’t have experience in nonprofit work. That’s why they meet each month and listen to their Amway networks across the country, taking ideas and suggestions for what children’s issues they should address next.

Later in the day, the leaders leave the office and put on their volunteer vests, joining other Amway Business Owners (ABOs) and employees to help out at the Dong Myung Child Welfare Center, which serves the needs of orphaned children.

The volunteers clean blankets, play games, host a birthday party and stock the pond with new goldfish. They also present a check for $5,000 to support the needs of the Center.

It is not uncommon to find Amway volunteers at this and other Child Welfare Centers around the country. Amway has been a longtime partner, and Leonard and Esther have inspired many more to get involved through their call to action.

The next day is a business meeting for more than 25,000 ABOs and their customers. The efforts of the World Wide Charity for Children are woven throughout the day.

It starts with a cookie drive early in the day. The cookies are made by ABOs, and infused with protein powder and other healthy ingredients.

During an intermission, volunteers pass out organ donation registration forms. Approximately 2,500 people sign up as new donors.

The final stage event of the day is not a motivational sendoff. Instead, Leonard and Ether take the stage with their top leaders to deliver a check representing the cookie sales – more than $30,000.

We are excited to see the groundswell of excitement for these efforts in Korea, and are proud to be partners with Leonard and Esther Kim. 

Coming soon will be a video that tells more of the story. Thanks to Yang-Hee Cho, Yong-Bom Lee, Sang-Doo Kim, and the team at Amway Korea for their support on this project.

We are out traveling again!

We have heard a lot about the generosity of two of our top Amway distributor leaders from South Korea: Leonard and Esther Kim, members of the Amway Founders Council.

This week, we will visit Amway One by One programs in Korea and learn more about the work they are doing for children.

Similar to our visits to programs in Guatemala, Taiwan and the United States, this program is part of a larger partnership with our distributor leaders to help children in many different ways, according to the local needs and the passions of Amway distributors in their local communities.

We will share more in the upcoming weeks.