Twenty-Nine Delaware Nonprofits Received Nearly $240,000 in Verizon Foundation Grants This Year

WILMINGTON, Del. - Delaware Center for Educational Technology, Serviam Media, Delaware School for the Deaf and Cancer Care Connection are among 29 nonprofit groups in Delaware that received nearly $240,000 from the Verizon Foundation this year. 

The grants have enabled the recipient organizations to improve basic literacy skills, create new and diverse approaches to technology-based learning, and help domestic violence victims rebuild their lives.

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications and one of the largest corporate foundations in the world, awarded a total more than $69 million in grants last year.

"Our efforts are rooted in a century-old tradition of giving back to the communities we serve, guided by the firm belief that technology can have a profound and positive effect on social issues," said William R. Allan, president of Verizon Delaware.  "Our foundation makes a positive difference by supporting and investing in the people and organizations striving to improve the quality of life in our communities - where our customers and employees live and work.

"That difference can be made in the progress of our children as they study to meet the challenge of learning and working in the 21st century; in the lives of millions of Americans with low literacy skills who are unable to complete a job application or even read a menu; and in the lives of men and women who live in abusive and deadly situations for whom a phone can open a line to hope," Allan said.

Among the Delaware nonprofits that received Verizon Foundation grants in 2007 are: Child Inc.; Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Delaware Futures; Delaware Technical & Community College Educational Foundation; Latin American Community Center; Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League; People's Place; VSA Arts of Delaware; and YWCA Delaware.

So far this year, Verizon employees and retirees in Delaware have donated more than 3,300 hours and raised more than $48,000 for nonprofits while the Verizon Foundation matched approximately $42,000 through its matching gifts program.  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 nationally since Verizon's inception in 2000 and provided $29 million in combined contributions through this program.

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 63.7 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 nearly 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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