Verizon Donates $50,000 to Aid Washington Flood Victims

EVERETT, Wash. - Verizon is stepping up with $50,000 in grants to help residents of Washington who have been affected by recent storms and flooding.

"When people are in trouble, we want to help," said Verizon's Northwest Senior Vice President David S. Valdez.  "We've worked hard to get phone service restored; now it's time to help the community with its recovery efforts."

The Verizon Foundation is donating $25,000 to the American Red Cross chapter of Snohomish County and $25,000 to the Salvation Army in Everett.

During the storms, more than 280 Red Cross volunteers served 13,000 meals to evacuees in Snohomish County and distributed 1,000 clean-up kits to area residents. The Salvation Army Corps provided support to a number of community organizations in Snohomish County that helped residents cope with the floods. The organization also provided food and beverages to hundreds of volunteers during the preparation and initial recovery stages, and is now supporting long-term recovery efforts through the Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAID) network.

Despite widespread flooding, there were no large-scale telephone outages related to the storms in Washington. However, Verizon employees continue to work extended hours to restore service to individual customers who have experienced phone trouble, especially in areas where access has been restricted by the floods.

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its signature program, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence.  In 2007, the foundation awarded more than $67.4 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $25.1 million in combined contributions. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since Verizon's inception in 2000.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 80 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,000 and in 2007 generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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