• Charity Concerts • Financial and Economic Education • Students Internship Program • Volunteer Activities Emergency Reconstruction Assistance and  Support for the Regions Devastated by the Great  East Japan Earthquake • Disaster-relief Donations SMFG  2011 61 In order to assist our clients affected by the Great East  Japan Earthquake as much as possible, SMBC continued to  open its Sendai branch on non-business days, and provided the  over-the-counter payment services to our clients who had lost  their deposit books, certificates or registered seals (provided  that they had other types of identification). We also began offer- ing housing loans with preferential interest rates for our clients  whose homes were lost or damaged by the earthquake, and  special funding facilities for our corporate clients. Furthermore, SMBC opened an account solely for donations  for disaster-relief efforts, and solicited donations from our clients  and also from our employees of all Group companies, including  the bank and SMBC Nikko Securities. Sumitomo Mitsui Card  and Cedyna also accept donations charged to credit cards. SMFG and its Group companies have donated an aggregate  of approximately ¥600 million for the reconstruction of regions  devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, out of which  SMBC and SMBC Nikko Securities donated ¥300 million and  ¥100 million, respectively. The Group also took other initiatives  including collecting donations from employees and donating the  amount equivalent to the donations given by employees. In April, SMBC Nikko Securities also implemented the volun- teer leave program, and in July, it sent approximately 360 newly  hired employees to the disaster areas for volunteer activities. In April, SMBC implemented a special leave of absence for  disaster relief volunteer activities, and in June, it began allow- ing employees to actually go to the disaster areas for regular  volunteering. By early July, 65 employees had participated in  such volunteer activities as the clean-up of homes and restor- ing photographs by taking advantage of this volunteer leave  program. SMBC, JRI and SMBC Friend Securities offer internship pro- grams for students. In fiscal 2010, SMBC invited 16 students  allowing them to gain actual banking operational experience  at various departments of the Head Office. JRI invited five stu- dents to help gain a thorough understanding of environmental  and energy businesses for the next generation. SMBC Friend  Securities invited 26 students to learn about financial instru- ments and the securities business. Sumitomo Mitsui Card, SMFL, JRI and SMBC Nikko  Securities send instructors for classes at universities.  Additionally, in November 2010, SMBC Friend Securities began  its free online education program and practical experience  program, “You • You Toshi” (self-composed Investment) for inex- perienced investors. Since 2006, SMBC has held  charity concerts performed  by employees to support  unfortunate children world- wide. The donations are col- lected from the audiences  of concerts and also from  the sales of employees’ handcrafted products. In May 2011,  the bank delivered musical instruments, as part of its support  for disaster victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, to the  elementary and intermediate schools which were substantially  damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. In addition, people  taking refuge in Tokyo were also invited to the concerts. SMBC and SMBC Nikko Securities organize vocational work- shops for elementary school students to experience working  in the financial industry. The bank supports diverse financial  and economic education activities, including publishing a book  called “ What Does a Bank Do? ,” providing financial educational  on-line games on the SMBC website, co-sponsoring Kidzania (a  vocational experience theme park for children), and supporting  Shinagawa Financial Park (economic training programs for junior  high school students). National Theatre and the National Engei Hall. The company  also supports the development of talented performers by co- sponsoring children kabuki performances. SMBC Friend Securities  supports cultural and artistic activities by specially sponsoring  art exhibitions such as those by Gyoshu Hayami (the traditional  Japanese painter) shown at the Yamatane Museum of Art. SMBC and Cedyna support the promotion of music culture  by sponsoring classical music concerts.