Bell Atlantic Supports After-School Care

Bell Atlantic Supports After-School Care

Company Gives $6,000 to IMPRESS Harrison County Students

April 17, 1998

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. - The Bell Atlantic Foundation today gave $6,000 to
an after-school program designed to improve math and science skills of
Harrison County middle school students.

The contribution to the IMPRESS program (Improving Math Performance,
Reading, English, Science Skills) will be used to buy computer
equipment for the program's after-school location at Norwood
Elementary School and future IMPRESS sites. Partners in the program
include Norwood Elementary, Washington Irving and Bridgeport middle
schools, and Vincent Memorial United Methodist Church. The donation
will also provide support for the JUST ASK Program (Join Us In
Supporting Today's After School Kids) located at Nutter Fort and
Norwood elementary schools.

Bell Atlantic - West Virginia Area Manager Don Molter presented the
contribution during today's Harrison County Summit for the Future of
Families.

Bell Atlantic's contribution marks another installment on a pledge the
company made last summer at the Governor's Summit for West Virginia's
Future. At that summit, the company agreed to contribute $100,000
over three years toward after-school programs in the state.

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

"This grant from Bell Atlantic will help the IMPRESS program enhance
students' learning experience in math and science in the critical
hours immediately after school ends," said D.D. Meighen, program
director. "We appreciate Bell Atlantic's strong corporate
citizenship."

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, visit
(www.bellatlanticfoundation.com) on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic - formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX -
is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry. With 40.5 million telephone access lines and six 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 21 countries.