Sony 2013 Annual Report Download - page 56

Continuing Activities to Support Recovery from the
Great East Japan Earthquake
In fiscal year 2011, Sony extended
emergency assistance in the
aftermath of the Great East Japan
Earthquake and, in fiscal year 2012,
undertook initiatives to support
medium- to long-term recovery.
These initiatives included support
for children’s activities in disaster-aected areas made
possible by the RESTART JAPAN Fund established by Sony
and Save the Children Japan in June 2011. In collaboration
with other supporting companies, Sony is undertaking a
wide variety of support initiatives focusing on support
for the next generation.
For example, in April 2012, Sony launched the “Achieve
Your Dreams Project,” which provides grants to organiza-
tions involved in restarting school- and community-based
sports and cultural programs that were disrupted by the
earthquake or starting new programs. The goal of the
project is to help children regain a sense of enjoyment
in their daily lives and hope for the future. To date, over
two grant periods, the RESTART JAPAN Fund has provided
grants to 215 organizations, with assistance planned for
approximately 14,000 school students in Iwate, Miyagi
and Fukushima prefectures. In fiscal year 2013, the Fund
will conduct its third call for grant applications.
In the second grant period of the Achieve Your Dreams
Project, Sony commenced the “Child Reporter Project,”
in which children served as reporters, photographing
and recording their surroundings and sharing their
resulting news articles with people nationwide through
the RESTART JAPAN website. The cameras used in this
project were provided by the “Camera Reuse Project,”
which delivers Cyber-shot™ compact digital cameras
that are no longer used by their original owners to people
in disaster-aected areas. This new type of recovery
assistance program allows customers to donate, through
Sony, their used cameras to help people in aected areas
record their activities.
Sony has continued to support volunteer activities by
its employees since immediately after the disaster. As
of March 31, 2013, a cumulative total of more than 1,800
employees had participated in volunteer programs in
disaster-aected areas. Sony Group employees have
been organizing and conducting their own volunteer
program. A total of approximately 380 employees
participated in the program over a total of nine trips.
Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. also is undertaking a wide
range of volunteer activities centered on its branch oces
in disaster-aected areas. A total of 1,200 people have
participated in these programs.
Response to Hurricane Sandy in the U.S.
When Hurricane Sandy struck the Eastern Coast of the
United States last fall, Sony provided immediate disaster
relief contributions to Save the Children and the American
Red Cross and conducted a special employee matching
gift campaign across the U.S. Sony companies that raised
more than $160,000 in additional funding for these
worthwhile organizations, which continue to assist local
families and help rebuild their communities.
Since that time, Sony has also provided additional
grants to local non-profit organizations specifically com-
mitted to long-term recovery in the region, long after the
agencies focused on immediate disaster relief are gone.
Emergency Relief
In the event of a major catastrophe or crisis situation, Sony supports humanitarian relief eorts in a manner that takes
into consideration the nature of the event and its impact on the region in which it occurred.
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