ING DIRECT USA to Help Norwood Street Elementary Get Ready for Back-to-School

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As the beginning of a new school year approaches, ING DIRECT USA, the nation's largest direct bank, is sending more than two-hundred Associates to prepare Norwood Street Elementary School for the start of the school year.  On Thursday, August 4, the Bank's high energy team will prep, polish and repair both the interior and exterior of Norwood's downtown historic school grounds.  The day-long community service event will kick-off ING DIRECT's fifth annual Orange Days of Giving and is just one of fifteen volunteer projects to be completed entirely by ING DIRECT Associates nationwide.

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"At ING DIRECT we recognize the profound impact schools have on shaping youth and our local communities," said Bill Watt, Head of West Coast Sales for ING DIRECT USA.  "In Los Angeles, this year's Orange Days of Giving will rejuvenate Norwood Street School facilities and make the school a more vibrant and comfortable place for students to focus on learning."

Established in 1896, Norwood Street Elementary School today serves a unique and diverse student population with more than 1,200 children in Pre-K through fifth grade.  Improvements planned for Norwood include:

• Repainting the school's main entrance and main office's waiting room and stairwell;
• Remodeling the nurse's office, including repainting and installing a new sink and cabinetry;
• Converting an unused utility room into a comfortable teacher's lounge;
• Renovating the school cafeteria (i.e. building tables and painting walls with a world flag theme);
• Installing twenty-six new computers and a flat screen TV in the computer lab; and
• Landscaping the main outdoor recreation area with drought-resistant plants and painting murals on the school playground's black-top.

ING DIRECT's Orange Days of Giving was created in 2007 and all projects are organized and executed entirely by Associate committees from various departments throughout the bank.  Each year, the committees are tasked with locating unique venues and programs through which Associates can share their time and talent with the community.

To date, ING DIRECT Associates throughout the East Coast, Midwest and West Coast locations are proud to have dedicated more than 64,000 hours during the Orange Days of Giving toward charitable causes that support the bank's mission of providing economic empowerment, financial education and life skills.

About Norwood Street Elementary School

Norwood Street School is a four-track (90/30) year-round school located in the heart of central Los Angeles.  Norwood Street School is also both a LEARN and a School Based Managed school, which strives to have all stakeholders involved in the school governance.  In addition to its gifted high ability program and a special education program that serves kindergarten to fifth grade learning-disabled students and kindergarten through second grade Autistic students, Norwood has been recognized as a California Distinguished School because of its student achievement and community involvement.

About ING DIRECT USA

ING DIRECT, the nation's largest direct bank and largest thrift, is dedicated to inspiring Americans to become a nation of savers.  Since its inception in 2000, more than 7.7 million Americans have entrusted their savings with ING DIRECT, building the bank to nearly $91.4 billion in assets.  ING DIRECT has developed a comprehensive social media Savers Community, including Twitter, Facebook and it's We, The Savers blog.  For more information about ING DIRECT call 1-800-ING-DIRECT, and for information about its commitment to financial education visit Planet Orange(SM).  

Style note to Editors: ING DIRECT is always capitalized and never referred to as ING.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kendall Roy, ING DIRECT USA
(302) 255-3619
[email protected]

SOURCE ING DIRECT USA