ITOCHU has promoted social contribution activities aiming for the sound development of young people since setting up the ITOCHU Foundation in 1974.
In addition to its present projects, the foundation searches for new opportunities to help that match the needs of the times. Current projects include subsidizing the development of children’s literature collections (including subsidies for library development at schools and supplementary schools for Japanese nationals overseas), and promoting the development of an e-book library.

For details, please refer to the webpages of the ITOCHU Foundation

With the hope of alleviating hunger and poverty worldwide, we have been serving as a council member of the Japan Association for the WFP, a nonprofit organization that focuses on building support in Japan for the World Food Programme and its hunger relief operations.
Every year, employees of the ITOCHU Group participate in Walk the World in Yokohama. Since 2007, we have made a panel exhibition introducing WFP activities at our Tokyo head office.

We support the activities of “Kokkyo naki Kodomotachi” (KnK: meaning Children without Borders), an NGO that supports street children, children who are victims of major disasters, and other children in developing countries. On December 11, 2009, renovating was completed for House for Youth, made possible through support from ITOCHU. Located in the outskirts of Manila (Philippines), House for Youth is a home that helps young people become independent. It was also put to effective use as an emergency evacuation center when typhoons hit the Philippines in September 2009. Moving forward, the home will provide a wide range of support to approximately 1,000 young people per year.

As part of nurturing young people, thinking that we want to give disabled children the opportunity to challenge themselves in a variety of activities, and that we would like to help create opportunities for them to explore their own potential, we have sponsored the classes since 2007.
The instructor Kazuya Yano, former pitcher for the Yakult Swallows, covered a lot of ground, from sportsmanship, basic movements and other fundamentals that are difficult to master by practicing at home, to catching fly balls and practicing pitching. Expressing a common sentiment, one child who participated said, “I am happy because it was the first opportunity for me to use some of this gear. From now on I want to practice more.” The event is very popular with everyone including the children, their guardians and the volunteers.