AT&T Supports Virginia's Home for Our Troops, Inc. with Grant Dollars and Volunteer Hours

STAFFORD, Va., Sept. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The AT&T Foundation, the corporate philanthropy organization of AT&T*, today announced an AT&T CARES grant of $5,000 to Homes for Our Troops, Inc., a national non-profit organization that assists severely injured servicemen and servicewomen and their immediate families by providing resources to help build or renovate homes that provide maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.

The contribution from AT&T will be used to purchase materials to build a home for service members who have been severely injured in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001.  As part of the project, AT&T volunteers will participate in a Build Brigade event to help build a home.  Construction support activities include general site assistance such as food services, site photography, exterior landscaping, and a thorough cleanup of the property prior to presentation of the house key to the service member.

During the past year, approximately 40 AT&T active employees and retirees have volunteered time to Homes for Our Troops, Inc.  The cumulative effort of these volunteers has resulted in approximately 300 hours of volunteerism.

"Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, and Airmen, including disabled, combat-decorated veterans.  This is my way of giving back," said Darcy Ryan, a Stafford, Virginia-based AT&T employee who nominated the organization for the AT&T Cares National Volunteer Week Contest.

Ryan delivered the contribution to Homes for Our Troops to help fund a home built for Sergeant Kenny Lyon, an injured U.S. Marine who earlier this year received the keys to his home as part a Homes for Our Troops project in Fredericksburg, VA.

"The work done by Homes for Our Troops is extraordinarily valuable to the injured servicemen and women," said J. Michael Schweder, president, AT&T Mid-Atlantic.  "We are proud to support their great work through AT&T CARES."

As part of National Volunteer Week activities sponsored by AT&T, more than 8,850 employees cast their votes for one of the top 24 qualifying volunteer projects from the AT&T CARES Project Funding Contest, which was launched during National Volunteer Week in April 2011.  The Homes for Our Troops finished second in the voting, qualifying it for the contribution.

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About Philanthropy at AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its philanthropic initiatives and working with other organizations, AT&T has a long history of supporting projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; and address community needs. In 2010, more than $148.2 million was contributed through corporate-, employee- and AT&T Foundation-giving programs.

AT&T Cares

AT&T Cares is a company-wide initiative providing a range of volunteer options and support, encouraging employees to engage, and remain engaged, in community service that is meaningful to them and their communities. Since AT&T Cares launched, in the summer of 2009, employees have shown an overwhelming desire to participate and employee volunteerism is up more than 500,000 hours over the previous year. In 2010, employees and retirees, including the AT&T Pioneers and Employee Resource Groups, donated 9 million hours of time to community outreach activities – worth more than $192 million.

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