Verizon Awards More Than $450,000 in Grants To Nonprofit Organizations throughout Washington

EVERETT, Wash. -- Verizon Communications reaffirmed its commitment to improving literacy and technology development in Washington by awarding more than $450,000 in grants to 92 non-profit organizations.

In King County alone, Verizon Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, awarded 36 grants totaling $230,400. In Snohomish County, Verizon awarded $227,680 in grants to various organizations.

Page Ahead, a local literacy program, received $34,350, the largest grant awarded in King County. The grant will be used for several literacy projects, including the Books For Kids Reading is Fundamental project which gives new books to at-risk children in schools throughout King, Snohomish, Whatcom, Skagit and Okanogan counties.

Other significant grants were made to the following King County organizations:

• Eastside Literacy Council -- $7,500 for tutoring, books, and development of computer programs for an adult basic literacy project.

• Seattle Public Library -- $10,000 for the Mobile Laptop Lab that teaches computer literacy.

• University of Washington -- $25,000 for a Business Technology Initiative that helps inner-city and minority owned companies develop and implement a strategy for using technology to improve operating efficiencies and expand market share.

"The prosperity of our cities and our state relies heavily on cultivating a literate, well-educated, technologically fluent community," said John Gustafson, Verizon external affairs director. "Verizon's grants underscore our long-standing goal of improving the communities we serve and our commitment to providing excellent service to our customers."

Other Verizon grant recipients in King County include: Alliance for Education; Bellevue Schools Foundation; Casa Latina; Center for Community Service Fund; Choices Education Group; Dethlef Schrempf Foundation; Echo Lake Elementary School; Business Week; Husky Fever; Independent Colleges of Washington; Inter-community Housing; Junior Achievement of Greater Puget Sound; KCTS-TV; Listen and Talk; Marymoor Museum, Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation; One Northwest; Pacific Science Center; Partnership for Learning; Philanthropy Northwest, Planned Parenthood; Seattle Art Museum; SMART Foundation; Technology Access Foundation; Seattle Times Newspapers In Education; Urban League; Washington Independent Telephone Association Scholarship Fund; Washington Research Council, Washington School Principals Education Foundation; and Washington Women's Employment and Education.

Verizon Foundation supports a variety of programs that focus on improving basic and computer literacy, bridging the digital divide, enriching communities through technology and creating a skilled work force. The foundation promotes partnerships in technology with organizations serving the needs of diverse communities, people with disabilities, and the economically and socially disadvantaged. The foundation also supports Verizon Volunteers, an incentive program that encourages Verizon employees to volunteer in their communities and provides matching gifts to nonprofit organizations. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation on the Internet.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 128.5 million access line equivalents and 28.7 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with 256,000 employees and approximately $65 billion in annual revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to more than 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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