"The 1st Social Impact Award Held.. Citizen Participation Increased Through Donation Platform 'Cherry'"

The 1st Social Impact Award (SIA Korea) Ceremony was held on February 22 at the KG Tower Auditorium. The blockchain donation platform 'Cherry' introduced a new voting feature for the event, encouraging active citizen participation.

The SIA was established to recognize and encourage individuals, organizations, and companies that solve social problems and lead change for a sustainable future. This year marked the first edition of the event.

The ceremony proceeded with nominations from non-profit public organizations and expert reviews. Among the 17,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the country, 270 organizations were nominated, and 9 finalists were selected. Afterward, over 1,000 citizens voted online through the Cherry platform, determining the final awardees.

The awards were presented in four categories: Innovation Award, Creativity Award, Hurdling Award, and Special Award. The Social Action Platform, Bake, won the Innovation Award, the Child Welfare Practice Association, Seoum, won the Creativity Award, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics received the Hurdling Award. The Special Award was given to singer Sean, who spread positive influence through a charity marathon.

Cherry, the donation platform, supported the voting process and focused on promoting the organizations' social activities and messages. Cherry’s CEO, Lee Su-jeong, stated, "We have been working to lower the barriers to donation and build trust through technology and ideas. We will continue developing services that allow more people to easily participate in a donation culture."

With over 260,000 users and more than 18 billion KRW in donations, Cherry is working to spread a transparent donation culture using blockchain technology. Through the SIA Ceremony, Cherry demonstrated new possibilities for donation platforms.