S-Oil Corp. said Thursday it has given funds to children in low-income families for their liver transplant surgeries.

The country’s third-largest oil refiner has been supporting 26 children suffering biliary atresia since 2009 through company and employee donations. The rare symptom among infants means that bile ducts ― long tubes carrying bile for digestion ― between the liver and the small intestine, are blocked or absent.

Of the 26 infants who underwent an operation called the Kasai procedure, to create an open duct so bile can drain from the liver, four also needed a liver transplant, S-Oil said. Each surgery costs 30 million won ($27,800).

“We hope our sincerity will help the children afflicted with the disease in a hospital room or at home restore their smile,” Kim Dong-cheoul, director of the S-Oil Public Service Corps, at the delivering ceremony in Seoul.

Since the launch of the volunteer corps in 2007, the refiner has been reinforcing its commitment to social service and sharing, which it said are also in line with management philosophy.

The organization with 750 company employees and executives working in Seoul, Ulsan and other parts of Korea provides volunteer services tailored to each region’s characteristics, S-Oil said.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)