Two Delaware Schools and a Nonprofit Received More Than 500 Books Through Verizon's Season's Readings Campaign
January 21 2010 - 10:50AM
PR Newswire (US)
WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Two schools and a
nonprofit organization in Delaware have received more than 500
children's books that were donated through the Verizon Foundation's
recent Season's Readings campaign. Each year, Verizon employees at
hundreds of company locations, including three across Delaware,
participate in the Season's Readings campaign by donating new or
gently used children's books. This past year, the public was
invited to take part in the campaign by making an online donation
to First Book, a nonprofit organization providing new books to
children in need through schools, libraries and other community
organizations across the country. Random House Children's Books
also participated by matching contributions made online, adding
more than 15,000 books to the national campaign total. The
organizations receiving books in Delaware are Benjamin Banneker
Elementary School, Milford; Elbert-Palmer Elementary School,
Wilmington; and Edgemoor Revitalization Cooperative, Wilmington.
"Studies have shown that one of the most successful methods to
improving reading achievement is to ensure that children have easy
access to age-appropriate reading material," said William R. Allan,
president of Verizon Delaware. "I am tremendously proud of the
efforts of our employees, our partners and everyone who
participated in the Season's Readings campaign to help get books
into the hands of children and help them become lifelong learners."
Season's Readings began in 2001 as a Verizon employees' campaign to
advance the cause of children's literacy. Since then, more than 2
million children's books have been donated to children across the
country. "We applaud the employees of Verizon for their commitment
to literacy," said Kyle Zimmer, First Book president and CEO.
"Thanks to their generous support, First Book is bringing close to
33,000 new books to children and families who need them most.
Together, Verizon and First Book are helping children in need open
the doors to exploration, adventure and learning through new
books." The Verizon Foundation supports the advancement of literacy
and K-12 education through its free educational Web site,
Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic
violence. In 2009, the Verizon Foundation awarded more than $67.5
million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. It
also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and
retirees, resulting in an additional $24.4 million in combined
contributions to nonprofits. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the
nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and
retirees have volunteered more than 5 million hours of community
service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit
http://www.verizonfoundation.org/. Verizon Communications Inc.
(NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in
delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications
services to mass market, business, government and wholesale
customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable
wireless network, serving more than 89 million customers
nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications,
information and entertainment services over America's most advanced
fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business
solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon
employs a diverse workforce of more than 230,000 and last year
generated consolidated revenues of more than $97 billion. For more
information, visit http://www.verizon.com/. First Book provides new
books to children in need addressing one of the most important
factors affecting literacy - access to books. An innovative leader
in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 65
million free and low cost books in thousands of communities. First
Book now has offices in the U.S. and Canada. For more information
about the nonprofit First Book please visit
http://www.firstbook.org/. VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon
news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts,
high-quality video and images, and other information are available
at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at
http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail,
visit the News Center and register for customized automatic
delivery of Verizon news releases. DATASOURCE: Verizon CONTACT: Lee
Gierczynski, +1-412-633-5574, Web Site: http://www.verizon.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html
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