Panasonic Corporate Citizenship News

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On a hot summer day in July, Panasonic's Summer Interns upheld Panasonic's business philosophy of "Contributing to Society" through a Volunteer Day at the YCS (Youth Consultation Service) Kilbarchan Residential Treatment Center in Paterson, New Jersey. YCS is a New Jersey based non-profit provider of behavioral, health, and social services to children and teenagers who have suffered at the hands of abuse or neglect or who simply have special needs that are not being met. One of the organization's major focuses is the placement of children in stable and supportive foster homes.

The Honorable Councilman Benjie E. Wimberly (center) Paterson, NJ presents a Certificate of Special Recognition for Panasonic

Kilbarchan located in Paterson, NJ is an all male facility which houses residents ranging in age from 12 to 18. Panasonic's involvement with YCS began in 2005 through the funding of various programs. There have been donations of company products to several YCS group homes. In addition, employee volunteers have hosted activities such as a Christmas Party and the YCS Summerfest, both held at Panasonic's US Headquarters offices in Secaucus.

This year was no exception! Panasonic summer interns pulled off an extreme makeover for the residents of Kilbarchan while they were away on a day trip. Rooms were painted, new bedding and curtains were put in place, new furniture was brought in, and photos that were taken by the residents with donated LUMIX digital cameras were organized. Their photos were then printed and framed to decorate the walls. In addition, Panasonic sponsored and outfitted two of their recreation spaces with Xbox game systems, Panasonic home theater systems, bookshelf stereo systems and VIERA plasma TVs.

After a full six hours of hard work, Panasonic interns excitedly waited to provide a warm welcome for the young men when they came back to their new home. All of the residents were surprised by their new space and thanked the interns with smiles and applause; it was a great success. This community service opportunity not only made a difference within the Kilbarchan group home, but also helped the Panasonic interns to understand the significance of Panasonic's global principle of "Contribution to Society".

(by Terri from Panasonic Corporation of North America)

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Panasonic Partnership Program at Yashiro Forest Park working together to create a dream forest full of life - with Gifu butterflies

Together with their families, employees of Panasonic and SANYO have launched a conservation initiative for the Gifu butterfly, a species regarded as Vulnerable with an increasing danger of extinction in Endangered Species, at Yashiro Forest Park in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture. Of the many Japanese butterfly species, the Gifu butterfly has been a focus for particular conservation activity, and takes its habitat in the satoyama woodland (areas of rich biodiversity near human settlements in the countryside) on the main Japanese island of Honshu.

During the butterfly's larval stage, it feeds on Japanese wild ginger (Heterotropa aspera) and asarum takaoi (Heterotropa takaoi), while eggs are also deposited on the same plants. The butterflies mature into adults in spring. In protecting these satoyama by thinning out the bamboo, cutting and trimming back the broad-leaved deciduous forest, and clearing away the fallen leaves, the volunteers from Panasonic plan to conserve the butterflies' natural habitat and continue to develop a "dream forest full of Gifu butterflies."

Biodiversity conservation activities launched in Hotani, Osaka Prefecture

Employees of the Panasonic and SANYO have launched a satoyama woodland conservation initiative in Hotani, Osaka Prefecture, which has been selected as one of the "100 Country Villages of Japan."

The Panasonic employees will continue to work with local NPOs on a regular basis to promote activities such as cleaning up abandoned rice terraces and protecting the plants and animals that find their habitats in Hotani.

Prizewinners decided for 17th Eco Relay Photo Contest

The 17th ECO RELAY Photo Contest attracted a total of 163 entries from 75 people. This year saw a number of works conveying pure emotion and humanism against a background of the surrounding natural environment. Following a strict deliberation process, a total of one ECO RELAY Grand Prize winner, five Awards for Excellence winners, one Special ECO RELAY Award winner, and ten Masterpieces were finally selected. The winner of the Grand Prize, Seiji Mishima, commented as follows: "While taking a two-day, one-night holiday with my friends from my photography club, I noticed a grandfather and his grandchildren happily enjoying fishing together. The looks on the grandchildren's faces were priceless, so I took a picture without a moment's thought."

The chair of the judging panel, Yutaka Kaizuka (member of the Japan Advertising Photographer's Association, The Japan Society for Arts and History of Photography, and the Panasonic Shoaikai), praised the winning entry highly: "This was a powerful, bright, and enjoyable piece with an effective composition. The harmony between the grandfather and his grandchildren is lovely." On the contest, Kaizuka also commented, "Overall, this year's entries featured a larger number of more human pieces, focusing on people in nature. I hope that we will see more entries of people living in harmony with nature next time too, as befitting of our ECO RELAY contest."

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Beijing:
Based on the theme for the 2011 World Environment Day, "Forests: Nature at Your Service," a series of environmental activities were held at Panasonic Center Beijing throughout June in conjunction with the Shin Kong Place shopping mall, where the Center is located. These were designed as an opportunity for children living in the city to come into closer contact with forests and take part in eco-related activities. The actual activities to be conducted included drawing pictures of eco activities and watching videos of environmental conservation work. This enabled the children to see, hear, and discover things about the environment from a different perspective to what they had been used to, and experience for themselves how forests play a crucial role in maintaining balance within the natural biotope. The events aimed to make the participating children more aware of how forests play a close, indispensible role within our own lives.

Suzhou:
The awards ceremony for the Panasonic Eco Picture Contest was held at the Weitingshi Elementary School at China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park on June 21. This Eco Picture Contest forms part of Panasonic's Eco Learning Programs for elementary school students, and serves as a means to encourage children to participate more actively in eco-related activities. The judges at the contest nominated 120 pictures as candidates for prizes, and ultimately selected four first prize winners, four second prize winners, eight third prize winners, and 40 other commended masterpieces. A representative of the school spoke with great enthusiasm about the event, saying "This has been a good opportunity for the children to not only learn about eco awareness, but also to think for themselves about environmental issues, develop greater wisdom, and think of their own ideas to make improvements."

Hangzhou:
An environmental activity entitled "Let's give waste a home" was held in the hall of Qingtaijie Elementary School in Hangzhou City on June 8. Panasonic Home Appliances (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. (PHAH) General Manager Tadatoshi Kijima and Associate Managing Director Masatsugu Kanamori were present for an event attended by a total of 200 people, including the principal, deputy principal, and student representatives of Qingtaijie Elementary School, as well as Panasonic Eco Learning Program instructors. At the end of the day, the school was presented with two sets of waste separation boxes by the six Panasonic Group companies in Hangzhou.