AMCHAM hosts charity night

“Would you like some more wine or champagne? How are you enjoying your dish?” Such are typical questions that any polite server working at a restaurant at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul would ask a guest.

At the hotel Wednesday however, it was not a waitress or waiter but foreign executives who were making such remarks while personally serving their employees, friends and families at this year’s CEO Servers’ Night ― an annual fundraising event hosted by the Partners for the Future Foundation, the charity arm of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Leaving behind their business suits and high positions, ten executives of foreign companies based in South Korea put on their aprons and black bow-ties to take part in the creative donation event organized by the foundation since 2003 to raise scholarship funds for students of unemployed families.

AMCHAM President Amy Jackson and her husband John Loftus were busy clearing dishes and carefully pouring wine and champagne for her employees and guests at their table. Across the room, Costco Wholesale Korea President Preston Draper hopped back and forth around his company table, answering calls of “My wine glass is empty!”

Other CEO servers of the night included the Partners for the Future Foundation president Jeffrey Jones, Fidelity Worldwide Investment country head Michael Reed, FedEx Express Korea representative director Chae Eun-mi, BT&I president Song Kyoung-ae, Pfizer Korea country manager Lee Dong-soo, GM Korea president and CEO Sergio Rocha, as well as Grand Hyatt Seoul president and general manager David Pacey.

This year’s event was attended by around 130 guests and raised roughly 40 million won ($36,000) in contributions, according to AMCHAM. All proceeds apart from the cost of hosting the event will go to the Partners for the Future Foundation.

“We’ve been a supporter of the foundation for many years. It’s a wonderful organization,” Draper said after the dinner on Wednesday.

“The CEO Servers’ Night is a great chance to get together with great people who are fun and be able to serve the people I work with. We look forward to being able to participate again next year,” he said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)