Verizon Foundation Awards $62,000 To South Carolina Nonprofit Groups

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Verizon recently provided a boost for 17 nonprofit agencies in South Carolina with grants totaling $62,000 for technology development projects. The grants range from $2,000 to $5,000.

The recipients were chosen from among 102 applicants responding to a Verizon request for proposals for projects that support the efforts of the nonprofit communities to upgrade and integrate new technologies for organizational effectiveness.

"We were impressed with the number of high-quality proposals we received, and the
process was even more competitive than we had originally envisioned," said Harold Barron, Verizon's director of public affairs for South Carolina. "Our nonprofit partners are fast learning to utilize technology to its fullest, both within their organizations and the communities they serve, and we are pleased to be able to provide the boost that many of them needed."

Organizations receiving grants include:
• Adult Learning Center (Spartanburg) -- computer software and hardware to assist students who are taking English as a second language.

• Bethesda Community Outreach (Kingstree) -- computer software and hardware to teach new skills to adult workers who are economically disadvantaged or displaced.

• Boys and Girls Club of the Lowcountry (Beaufort) - help provide access to Internet technology to the members of the Yemassee Boys and Girls Club, located in a public housing facility. The technology will provide tutoring and assistance with homework.

• Brookgreen Gardens (Pawleys Island) -- video production software that will enable Brookgreen Gardens to produce educational materials in a professional format for distribution via the web or DVD.

• Columbia College (Columbia) -- enhancement of campus intranet system.

• Columbia Urban League -- enhancement of its Website and expansion of data collection to expand the outreach of the organization in its mission to provide services to the underserved citizens of the area.

• Conway Hospital Foundation (Conway) -- software for the hospital's mobile health screening service that will provide on-site access to the most current scientific guidelines for optimal health from leading health research organizations.

• Five Rivers Development Corp. (Georgetown) -- assistance in creating a technology institute to help underserved citizens find affordable housing, employment or start a business.

• Friends of the Hunley (Charleston) -- expansion of its Web site as an educational tool, including curricula for elementary, secondary and college level students.

• Georgetown County Hospital Foundation (Georgetown) -- computer hardware to allow physicians and clinical staff to be involved in collaborative sessions with other institutions on the latest techniques in cancer treatment.

• Grand Strand Family YMCA (Myrtle Beach) -- expansion of a computer lab for after-school programs and software allowing newsletters and membership information to be published in both English and Spanish.

• Greenville Safe Kids (Greenville) -- computer hardware and software used to track, evaluate, formulate, disseminate and present unintentional injury data, reports and educational information throughout Greenville County

• Outfitted for Work (Charleston) -- computer technology to enhance its workshops and improve software skills for economically disadvantaged workers.

• Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault (Florence) -- assistance with a technology resource room in the coalition's emergency safe shelter for battered women.

• Sistercare (Columbia) -- Computer software for a training program to prepare domestic violence survivors for the workplace.

• The Rice Museum (Georgetown) -- assistance with Web site development and an audio-visual presentation on the significance of Joseph Hayne Rainey, the first African-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives (four terms, from 1870 to 1879).

• United Way of Sumter, Lee and Clarendon Counties -- computer software and hardware to assist member agencies in their outreach to their clients.

Verizon Foundation last year awarded 22,000 grants totaling more than $70 million to charitable and nonprofit agencies that focus on improving basic and computer literacy, enriching communities through technology, and creating a skilled work force. The foundation uses its resources in the United States and abroad to develop partnerships in technology and connect them with organizations serving the needs of diverse communities, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and the economically and socially disadvantaged. The foundation also supports Verizon Volunteers, an incentive program that last year encouraged Verizon employees to volunteer more than 500,000 hours in their communities and provided $27.8 million in combined contributions to charitable and nonprofit organizations. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

Verizon Communications

A Fortune 10 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services, with approximately $67 billion in revenues and 221,000 employees. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 137.6 million access line equivalents and 34.6 million Verizon Wireless customers. Verizon is the third largest long-distance carrier for U.S. consumers, with 14.6 million long-distance lines. The company is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. Verizon's international presence includes wireline and wireless communications operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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