Texas Communities are Strengthened With Support From the Verizon Foundation

IRVING, Texas, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 5,000 low-income residents in Dallas improved their reading and writing skills at Literacy Instruction For Texas, which received a $65,000 Verizon Foundation grant.  Additionally, when communities in central Texas were affected by wildfires, the American Red Cross's Central Texas Region was able to provide assistance with a $20,000 grant from the foundation.

These are two of the hundreds of nonprofit groups in Texas that received more than $3.6 million in community grants in 2011 from the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon.  Other recipients focused on education programs and domestic violence awareness and prevention. 

Nationally, the Verizon Foundation awarded more than $66 million to nonprofit organizations last year.  

"Verizon has a long tradition of supporting nonprofit organizations across the nation and in Texas as well as assisting communities in need," said David O. Russell, Verizon vice president for external affairs.  "Not only are our employees the heart of our company, they are part of the communities we serve. In 2012, we look forward to using the power of Verizon's network, technology and in-kind support for key organizations driving change throughout Texas."

In addition to the grants, Verizon employees volunteered more than 50,200 hours to nonprofit groups throughout Texas in 2011.  The Verizon Foundation supports employee volunteerism by awarding a $750 grant to a nonprofit organization when a Verizon employee volunteers 50 hours or more to the organization during the year. 

Other Texas programs and organizations supported by the Verizon Foundation in 2011 included:

• Texas A&M Foundation -- College Station -- $43,800 to support Thinkfinity.org training with students in the College of Education.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters -- Irving -- $50,00 to underwrite domestic violence prevention training for Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors and mentees throughout the state.
• Houston Public Library -- Literacy Programs, Houston -- $24,500 to fund a broad range of community literacy programs.
• Urban League -- Dallas -- $20,000 to provide computer and technology training.
• Women's Shelter of South Texas -- Corpus Christi -- $24,500 to assist women and their children impacted by domestic violence.
• Texas Wildfire Relief Fund -- Austin -- $24,500 to support volunteer fire departments across the state.

The Verizon Foundation helps people to live healthy, safe and independent lives by addressing disparities in education, health care and sustainability.  Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live.  Verizon's employees are generous with their donations and their time, having logged more than 6.2 million hours of service to make a positive difference in their communities. For more information, visit www.verizonfoundation.org. 

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 109 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 194,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon