New Nationwide Database to Improve 'Dress for Success' Services to Women in Need

NEW YORK - The Verizon Foundation today announced a $140,000 grant to Dress for Success Worldwide to help the nonprofit organization create and implement an online database for its more than 80 local affiliates.

The comprehensive database will assist Dress for Success employees and volunteers by providing real-time access to:

• A nationwide inventory of new and donated apparel, cosmetics and accessories for clients.

• Volunteer recruitment needs.
• Communication between employees and volunteers at Dress for Success' more than 80 local affiliates.

Dress for Success promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. 

"The Verizon Foundation is enabling Dress for Success to take a tremendous leap forward as a global nonprofit organization," said Joi Gordon, CEO of Dress for Success Worldwide. "This grant will help us to implement sophisticated data collection and analysis, which will allow us to execute programs that have a positive and measurable impact on disadvantaged women."

In addition to assisting Dress for Success communications and operations, the new system will also allow the organization to track the short- and long-term outcomes of clients who are assisted through the program, and also improve services to better meet client needs.

"We believe technology can play a key role in helping Dress for Success succeed in its mission of helping disadvantaged women achieve economic independence," said Patrick Gaston, Verizon Foundation president. "We are proud to partner with Dress for Success to establish this new network to better connect its employees, volunteers and clients throughout the country."

The grant announcement was made today on CBS-TV's "The Early Show," which is highlighting Dress for Success each morning this week as it conducts a clothing drive for the organization. 

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, is committed to improving literacy and K-12 education; fostering awareness and prevention of domestic violence; and promoting the use of technology in health-care delivery.  In 2006, the foundation awarded more than $69 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched charitable donations from Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $29 million in combined contributions. Under the foundation's Verizon Volunteer initiative, one of the nation's largest employee-volunteer programs, company employees and retirees have also contributed nearly 3 million hours of community service since Verizon's inception in 2000.

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

Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 80 cities in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the UK. To date, Dress for Success has helped more than 350,000 women work towards self-sufficiency. Visit www.dressforsuccess.org to learn more.

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 62 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 has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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