Social Welfare

Acer Social Welfares

Acer holds to the spirit of giving back to the society that sustains it and actively participates in philanthropic activities. Acer promises to contribute to the society at large, believing that actions speak louder than words. On behalf of the company and employees, Acer translates the corporate spirit of innovation and care into action to uphold positive values and make contributions to the best of its capacity.

Online Charity Auction
Aid from all directions arrive to help ones in need – 2008 Sichuan earthquake relief
Date: May 2008

The severe Sichuan (Wenchuan) earthquake that occurred on May 12 shook Chinese people around the globe.

Staying true to Acer’s corporate care culture throughout the world and to fulfill our corporate social responsibilities, Acer Chairman and CEO J.T. Wang expressed his concerns and contacted Acer’s Mainland China branch immediately after the earthquake and inquired about the situation of the disaster. In addition, he instructed the president of Acer China, T.Y. Lay, to hold an emergency internal meeting, and to assemble a special rescue team to take part in the earthquake relief and rescue operations. On top of the rescue effort, Acer China donated 3 million RMB (approximately NT$13.26 million) to the Red Cross Society of China and China Charity Foundation, for the reconstruction of the disaster area.

Acer’s headquarter at Hsichih is currently hosting the “Let Love Voyage to Sichuan” fundraising event for employees to donate for the earthquake relief. The fund will be used to help victims through charity organizations including the Dharma Drum Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation, F.G.S. Juridical Person Compassion Foundation, Tzu Chi Foundation, Ling Jiou Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation, The Red Cross Society of The Republic of China, and World Vision Taiwan.

Online Charity Auction
Lighting up hope and revealing the path towards a better future – closing the digital gap
Date: April 2008

Acer participated in the second “Lighting Up Hope And Revealing The Path Towards A Better Future” charity event (co-hosted by Gjun Information Co., Ltd. and Taiwan Fund for Children and Families) and donated 20 notebook PCs in April as awards for the event. Acer generously offered the prizes, helping children from disadvantaged families to receive computer lessons and close the digital gap.

The third event of the same theme will soon be held and to help 2000 children from low income families to realize their dreams of receiving computer lessons for two consecutive years. Acer will continue to show its support for the event; students between the age of nine and 22 with keen interests in learning about computers from families suffering from unexpected difficulties or low income families may apply for the event. On top of the full sponsorship by Gjun Information Co., Ltd., Acer has specially upgraded the prizes to offer 25 new Acer notebook PCs as rewards for students whom have shown outstanding results in their learning as an incentive.

Online Charity Auction
Donate a bag of blood and save a life
Date: April 2008

To encourage employee blood donations, gifts were offered as gratitude for their support. Employees unable to donate blood could also show their care and compassion through their purchases of charitable goods, provided by Children’s Hearing Foundation, Autism Society Taiwan, Victory Center of Potential Development for the Physically/Mentally Disabled, Taipei Mental Rehabilitation Association, Operation Dawn and Guangren Second Hand Store.

The first round of blood donations for 2008 was scheduled in April. A total of 243 employees successfully donated blood to produce 328 pouches of blood; 18% more compared to the volume collected at the end of 2007, setting a new record for Acer.

Online Charity Auction
“Your Old Favorites is Someone Else’s New Love”  second hand resource collection and charitable sale
Date: March 2008

Spring cleaning is among the most important folk festive activities during the Lunar New Year. The Acer Volunteer Team asked all Acer employees to bring their unwanted clothing, accessories, household appliances, toys, stationery and books for a charitable sale.

The initial second hand resource collection and sale for 2008 raised a total of NT$ 27,841. The donation will go to the Nantou NPO towards the construction of a children’s hall. Remaining items will go to the Nantou NPO Nursery, Pingtung Aboriginal People Cultural and Education Foundation and the CAEIP.

Online Charity Auction
Let love circulate: delivering warmth in the harsh winter
Date: January 2008

Due to the impact of the recession in Taiwan’s economy, the winter of 2007 proved to be exceptionally “cold” for many social welfare groups. Most people have learned to spend their money wisely and cut down on unnecessary expenses. As a result, the task of fundraising became even more difficult than ever. Therefore, the Acer Volunteer Team has carefully selected the recipients of the charity fund and asked Acer employees to donate towards the event as a gesture of delivering warmth to the needy in the harsh winter. It was an opportunity for Acer employees to fulfill their sense of social responsibility through the act of donation and let their benevolence shine. The first charity event of 2007 has witnessed Acer employees’ selfless acts of contribution to the society; a total amount of NT$ 1,238,000, along with Acer employees’ goodwill, was donated to the needy through the assistance from CAEIP, Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation, and United Way Organization.

Online Charity Auction
Spreading Love to Our World – subduing our urges and return to the natural way: an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emission by all
Date: December 2007

The arrival of colder and harsher winters have unveiled the truth about global warming for all citizens. The Acer Building Management Committee has specially invited volunteers from Tzu Chi Foundation to speak on the effects of living resource consumption on greenhouse effects on the earth and protection of one’s spiritual environment in conjunction with the employee firefighting exercise held on December 28th. Through the viewing of a special DVD with the theme of “subduing our urges and return to the natural way: an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by all”, the idea of energy conservation to retard global warming was deeply imprinted into the hearts of all Acer employees so as to guide them towards the establishment of a corporate culture that centers on sustained Earth and sustained corporation.

Online Charity Auction
A visit to Taipei 101 for Hsichih township’s disadvantaged children
Date: November 2007

As Acer’s headquarter is located in Hsichih, Acer has always had a special sentiment and affection for the for its community. Not only that, caring for the disadvantaged children in Hsichih and accompanying them towards a happy and healthy growth have always been the wishes and goals for the Acer Volunteer Team. On November 30th, 30 members of the Acer Volunteer Team happily accompanied children from disadvantaged families in Hsichih to visit the observatory deck on top of Taipei 101. With the fascinating descriptions by the guiding attendant and the quiz (with prizes available) at the end of the session, these children were able to learn through the interesting activities. Seeing these children’s content faces also proved to be an extremely rewarding experience for the volunteers.

Online Charity Auction
Donate a bag of blood and save a life
Date: November 2007

In response to the “donate a bag of blood and save a life” event and out of the passion of bestowing someone with a new life somewhere, the Acer Volunteer Team hosted a blood donation event at Acer’s Sijhih headquarters on November 6th. In addition, orders for 200 servings of pastry baked by children from the Children Are Us Foundation were placed. It was the first time for such prizes and second hand stationery to be offered as gifts for a blood donation. Through the event, care and benevolent thoughts from Acer employees have benefited the Children Are Us Foundation, Field Relief Agency and Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation. The second Acer blood donation held in 2007 drew 211 employees to donate their blood. A total of 276 pouches of blood were collected, almost a 10% increase compared to the volume collected in May.

Online Charity Auction
Long-term Smile Contest: “Tell me what ‘Knowledge Economy’ is”
Date: November 2007

In 2007, Acer collaborated with the China Times Cultural & Educational Foundation to host the second Long-term Smile Contest: an event that was created to help participants to get closer to the domestic market, to focus more on product design and to gain a better understanding of Taiwanese industries’ competitive advantages. Acer hosted the event in the hopes of inspiring universities and colleges in Taiwan to devote themselves to research and innovation. The inception of the contest stemmed from a simple observation made by Acer Foundation: small and medium enterprises form the backbone of the Taiwanese economy, and there were few mega corporations with the capacity for independent research and development. In contrast, there are tens of thousands of doctorate degree holders and undergraduates with a solid foundation of knowledge they have acquired in colleges and universities across Taiwan. These talented people may have countless innovative ideas and the only thing they lack is a push from the business sector. In order to encourage research on the knowledge economy and efforts to consolidate technological innovation, Acer has held the Long-term Thesis Award Contest since 1987, and this year marks the 19th contest since its inception.

A special emphasis has been placed to encourage theses with contents corresponding to the right-hand portion of the Smiling Curve. Entries were divided into two categories of “Normal Entry” and “Entry on Specific Topic”. The category of “Entry on Specific Topic” was focused on Taiwanese agricultural products with a total of 165 teams submitting their entries. It is worth noting that this year’s participants included NTUT, NPUST and private universities such as Tonghai University and CYCU on top of the expected technological universities and private colleges. As it turned out, technologies and creativity shown in entries from the new participants were easily on par with entries from national research universities. However, although this year’s participants have demonstrated significantly improved touches on brand name and marketing, the jurors noticed most entries still fell on the left portion of the Smiling Curve (i.e. patent and technology) and the resulting curve resembled a crooked smirk rather than a smile. Regrettably, no winning entry was declared for the first prize.

1. First prize: no winning entry
2. Second prize: two winners receiving NT$ 1 million each
   The National Tsing Hua University team and National Taiwan University Team led by National Tsing Hua University professor Andrew Yeh:
   “Liquid Lens--The first sunrise for the Camera Focusing Technology of Taiwan PhotoElectric Industry”;
   The alliance of NCTU, NCKU, CYCU and NCCU led by NCTU professor Chao Po-Chang: “Focusing Tek”.
3. Third prize: one winner receiving NT$ 500,000
   “Everyone is Safe” by NCTU and NTNU

Online Charity Auction
“Let Love Circulate” Fundraiser & Used Resource Collection Event
Date: October 2007

Living in an age characterized by soaring prices, the only thing that seems to remain constant is our wage. And because of this, fundraising for many charitable groups becomes much more difficult. The Acer Volunteer Team has thoughtfully invited all Acer colleagues to show their kindness and care through the most simple and direct way right before the winter. With efforts by the Genesis Social Welfare Foundation, Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation and United Way Organization, a total of NT$ 1,007,000 was raised and donated to the disadvantaged groups. In addition, a collection of used sources that were no longer in use but still in working condition had been organized to gather items such as unwanted household appliances, stationery, clothing and books from Acer employees. The collected items were then sold in the charitable sale held from October 11th through 17th. With keen participation from Acer employees, the Acer Volunteer Team donated the amount of NT$ 15,670 raised from the charitable sale to ECPAT Taiwan. The remaining 25 cartons of material were donated to Guangren 2nd Hand Store and Field Relief Agency so that the resources would see better use. The event reflects Acer’s effort to contribute to the environment while turning Taiwan into a recycling-oriented society.

Order of Phoenix Screened for Minority Children
July 2007

Acer Inc., headquartered in Taipei, has cared for local minority groups for a long time. This summer, to help create joyful memories for minority children and to introduce these children to Acer staff and families, the Acer volunteer team organized a movie screening activity for all to join. In addition to the usual movie screening and ferris wheel rides, this year the staff and children interacted differently by forming groups for games, ferris wheel rides and Harry Potter movie screenings. The activity created a pleasant memory for the children who couldn’t stop talking about. As parents, on the other hand, the volunteers were moved by the experience and believed that the activity served to provide the best non-formal education for these children.

Donate Blood, Save a Life
May 2007

In answer to the “Donate Blood, Save a Life” campaign, the Acer volunteer team organized a blood donation on May 14 in the Taipei headquarters. Enthusiastic staff from Acer, Wistron and the community totaling up to 194 people kindly rolled their sleeves up for the campaign, which collected 251 bags of 250 c.c. blood, outnumbering last year’s 229 bags donated by 177 people. The campaign also showed Acer’s corporate culture that stresses service for the public in the long lines of people registering for blood donation. In the future, Acer plans to expand the blood donation activity for more staff and community people to join.

Think out of the Box, High School Kids Rock
March 2007

The Acer Digital Creation Award, held by the Acer Foundation, aims to spark novel definitions, models and works for creations in the digital era. A sum of NT$3 million was put aside annually for the “Digital Creation Award” and the “Competitive Award for Pilot Schools.” The list of winners was announced in March 2007 for The Third Acer Digital Creation Award, which was actively participated in to create 392 works, including 252 for the senior high school group and 140 for the junior high school group. 19 schools registered for the pilot school selection.

First Prize, Junior High School Group, Digital Creation Award:
“Tunnel,” Yung-Ping Junior High School
First Prize, Senior High Group, Digital Creation Award:
Rap song written by Lin, Taichung First Senior High School
Competitive Award for Pilot Schools:

Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School, Taichung Municipal Hui-Wen Junior High School, Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, Deguang Catholic Girls' High School, Kaohsiung Municipal Feng-Lin Junior High School, Taoyuan Sinwu Junior High School, Taitung Hsin Sheng Junior High School, Hsin-Chu Municipal Pei-Ying Junior High School and Chung Hwa School of the Arts.