Bell Atlantic Foundation Funds After-School Programs in Pendleton, Taylor Counties

Bell Atlantic Foundation Funds After-School
Programs in Pendleton, Taylor Counties

Children to Use Internet as Learning Resource

August 5, 1999

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Youngsters in Pendleton and Taylor
counties will have an opportunity to experience the Internet after school
thanks to two grants from the Bell Atlantic Foundation.

The Eastern Region Family Resources Network will receive a grant of
$5,746 to support an after-school program in Franklin, W.Va. The funds
will be used specifically to purchase computer equipment to use in
tutoring elementary and middle-school students on how to use the World
Wide Web as a learning resource.

Using the Internet, the students will be acquainted with a wide variety of
topics, including astronomy, botany and computer art.

A grant of $6,000 from the Bell Atlantic Foundation will help fund a
similar program in Grafton, W.Va. The Taylor County Family Resource
Network, which administers the School Day Plus Program, will also use
the funds to buy computers to tutor youngsters on the use of the Internet.

"We're pleased that Bell Atlantic has chosen to focus much of its
charitable effort on improving the quality of after-school care. The
company has truly become a leader in corporate citizenship in West
Virginia," said Dallas Bailey, director of the Governor's Cabinet of
Children and Families.

"We're delighted we can bring new technology to the young people
of Franklin and Grafton," said Bell Atlantic Area Manager Don
Molter. "Access to the Internet will open up a new world of
learning opportunities for these youngster."

Bell Atlantic's contributions to these agencies follow a pledge the
company made in 1997 at the Governor's Summit for West Virginia's
Future. The company agreed at that time to contribute a total of $100,000
over three years toward after-school programs.

Last year the Bell Atlantic Foundation contributed nearly $30,000 to after-
school programs in West Virginia, and it expects to more than equal that
amount this year.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects domestically
and internationally, with an emphasis on new technology applications in
education, health and human services, the arts and humanities, and civic
development in the communities served by Bell Atlantic. For more
information,
www.bellatlanticfoundation.com on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of
the new communications and information industry. With more than 43
million telephone access lines and nearly 10 million wireless customers
worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced
wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services and
the world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic
companies are also among the world's largest investors in high-growth
global communications markets, with operations and investments in 23
countries.