April 20th is the Day of Persons with Disabilities, a day to help the people understand the disabled and inspire them to rehabilitate. Based on its management philosophy of “sharing is our mission,” SPC is carrying out various support projects so that people with disabilities can create various jobs through bread and develop their dreams as pâtissiers. Today, we will take a look at the disabled support projects that are making our society a warmer and brighter place. Click on each title in the image below to check the current status of SPC’s special support programs for the disabled.
For detailed information, click on the title in the image.
Happy Bakery & Cafe Supports Self-Sufficiency of the Disabled
Happy Bakery & Café is a special café that opened its first branch in Jongro in 2012. It has 8 branches in Seoul and all the baristas are people with disabilities. All the profits from the shop are used for the rehabilitation of the disabled.
This café is a new model of social contribution in the form of an alliance between the SPC Happy Foundation, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and an NGO (The Purme Foundation). SPC has been putting its skills and know-hows to aid infrastructure, equipment, interior and coffee training. Seoul Metropolitan Government provides the space inside government organizations for the café’s operation and The Purme Foundation promotes rehabilitation projects using store operations and its profits.
Happy Bakery & Café endorses disabled people’s barista dreams
As of now, Seoul has 8 Happy Bakery & Café stores with a total of 26 disabled workers. As of the end of 2022, SPC had invested about 2.6 billion won in the cost of opening and operating the store. In the meantime, it created an accumulative sale of approximately KRW 7.9 billion; hiring 26 disabled baristas, and a total of 16 of them acquired the International Coffee Certificate for Disabled people (SCA).
SPC is donating talent to the Happy Bakery & Café— which helps people with disabilities to become self-reliant— in certification education, sanitation inspection and development of new products, etc. SPC is also organizing programs— such as conducting Barista Competition and releasing the winning product as a seasonal menu— to help disabled people gain pride, improve efficiency and get motivated.
SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class Fostering Talented Bakers with Disabilities
SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class is a special lecture program by SPC to support people with disabilities working at SPC Soul Bakery. Soul Bakery is a vocational rehabilitation facility for severely disabled people located in Deogyang-gu district of Goyang city. SPC has established a training space and facility at Soul Bakery since 2012 and is giving training opportunities to baking enthusiasts with developmental disabilities in order to secure a job. Moreover, SPC is helping already employed disabled people with supplementary training for job security.
Disabled workers of ‘Soul Bakery’ participating in the SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class on the 21st and practicing baking
SPC supports about KRW 800 million in personnel expenses for technical personnel and training operating expenses to operate a vocational education program for disabled bakers, and provides regular special lectures by lecturers from the Culinary Academy and Paris Croissant technical education team, which is handed down to support the production of products in the best condition.
A total of 243 trainees received formal education at the SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class in 2022; of which 64 trainees or 27% are actually employed at Happy Bakery & Cafe, Soul Bakery, and other confectionery and bakery workshops for the disabled. From 2012 to this year, SPC has donated approximately KRW 785 million to Soul Bakery, taking the lead in creating jobs and securing employment for the disabled.
Dae-yeop Lim, team leader of the Paris Croissant Technical Education Team, who hosted the ‘SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class’
This year’s SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class was held on April 21st by inviting bakers with disabilities to the Paris Croissant Suseo Technology Education Center. Dae-yeop Lim, the team leader of the Paris Croissant Technical Education Team, who hosted this special lecture, said, “I felt a greater sense of responsibility when I heard that there were a large number of applicants and participants were recruited through a lucky draw, he further revealed, “In the future, we will work harder to practice and experience new products”.
Among Soul Bakery workers who participated in the SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class filled with hope and happiness, we met Ji-soo Park, a pâtissier, who shared her impressions on the special lecture.
Ji-soo Park, a pâtissier at Soul Bakery
Q. Please introduce yourself.
Hello, I’m Ji-su Park, a pâtissier at Soul Bakery. I got my baking certification in 2011 and joined Soul Bakery in 2012.
Q. What are your work responsibilities at Soul Bakery?
I am in charge of the baking oven and molding dough that I receive from other workers. In addition, I’m also responsible for various other duties such as weighing dough, and packaging.
Q. What are your thoughts on SPC&SOUL Happy Bakery Class?
It was nice to be able to try and taste new menu items such as potato bagels and egg-berry bagels. Thanks to the instructor’s easy-to-understand explanation, I was able to follow the difficult course well. When I return to ‘Soul Bakery’, I would like to share what I learned today with my friends who could not attend the special lecture. I joined for the first time in 2 years since 2021, and I hope to have the opportunity to participate in the special lecture next year too.
SPC will continue to take the lead in job creation and job security for the disabled through vocational training and baking technology support so that Soul Bakery workers and people with disabilities who dream of becoming pastry chefs do not give up on their precious dreams.
SPC Happy Fund to Support Rehabilitation and Education Expenses for the Disabled
SPC Happy Fund is a project in which employees donate a certain amount from their monthly salary through voluntary participation. The amount donated every year is KRW 200 million, and it is being used for the production of customized assistive devices for children with disabilities, rehabilitation treatment cost support, special skill and aptitude education, and donations to The Purme Foundation. To date, KRW 2.265 billion donated through the SPC Happy Fund has been used to support 1,493 children with disabilities.
The 1st art exhibition of Children with Disabilities held at the Paris Croissant Seoul Arts Centre store
On the 17th of this month, along with the donation delivery ceremony, the first art exhibition for children with disabilities was held at the Paris Croissant Seoul Arts Centre store. The exhibition, which lasted until the 23rd, exhibited the artworks of four young people with disabilities, providing them with an opportunity to realize their dreams.
Woo-bin Choi and his family participating in the Happy Family Trip
SPC is carrying out the Happy Family Trip project for families with disabled children who were supported by the SPC Happy Fund. Happy Family Trip with The Purme Foundation is a program that supports the vitality of families who would have been exhausted from the emotional and long-term care of children with disabilities. Since 2012, 10 families have been selected every year to help disabled children and their families escape from isolation and depression.
In October last year, the selected families went on a trip to Jeju Island. For 4 days and 3 nights, disabled children and their families visited various places in Jeju, such as Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, Aqua Planet, and ate black pork, sashimi, and abalone, and enjoyed Jeju wholeheartedly. Families of disabled children who must have been tired of their daily lives had time to heal, rest, and recover their minds through the Happy Family Trip. Choi Woo-bin, a student who participated in the program, and his family said, “It was healing to watch the sun rise over the sea in Jeju,” and “I want to go to Jeju again because I remembered the wonderful sea I saw while standing on a rock.” which made the staff members, who had participated in the SPC Happy Fund, proud.
So far, we looked at the current status of various support projects for the disabled that SPC has been carrying out. In addition, SPC continues to provide technical training to the disabled through baking workshops such as SK Happiness More and Happy Together Bakery. SPC will continue to support the social independence of the disabled through sharing and coexistence that is considerate of the socially underprivileged.
