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SBC Supports WWII Memorial Gift with Employee Drive

SBC Supports WWII Memorial Gift with Employee Drive

Published 04-27-00

Submitted by SBC Communications Inc.

SBC Communications Inc. was among the first to contribute financial assistance in the effort to build America's first World War II Memorial. Now, the company's employees and retirees are pitching in to help the Memorial Fund reach its $100 million goal and keep the project on-track for planned ground breaking ceremonies later this year.

To help the national campaign reach its goal, employees and retirees throughout SBC Communications Inc.'s 25-state territory are launching a grassroots campaign to let friends, family members, neighbors, community leaders and others know about the importance of making sure this lasting monument becomes a reality.

So far, the national fundraising campaign has raised $80 million, $20 million shy of the $100 million needed to design, build and maintain the memorial. There are less than seven months remaining until Veterans Day weekend, when the American Battle Monuments Commission hopes to break ground.

The SBC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of SBC, has already contributed $3 million to the Memorial Fund, one of the first and largest donations to date. SBC vendors have contributed another $1 million plus. Just as employees and corporations joined together to support the war effort, SBC employees are teaming up with their company to support this important initiative.

"Every employee's and retiree's family has been touched in some way by the World War II effort," said Tom Morgan, president of SBC Consumer Markets and campaign chair for the employee charge. "As the months tick by, fewer and fewer veterans are alive to witness this memorial, which is already long overdue. It would be a tragedy not to break ground on Veterans Day. Our company and our employees realize there is no better time to say thank you."

Members of SBC's Pioneers, the company's volunteer arm, employees, and retirees have formed a committee aimed at educating the communities in which they live and work about the sacrifices made during the war, and the importance of supporting this national initiative. Committee members will be giving presentations at schools, and talking to civic and senior organizations during the next two months to raise awareness of the urgency to erect a monument paying tribute to those who preserved our freedom and our future.

Almost 70,000 Bell system employees, many of them from companies now owned by SBC, went into the armed services during WW II. On the home front, the industry virtually stopped developing civilian telephone equipment in order to provide telephone facilities for army camps, airplane warning nets, arsenals, and munitions plants.

"In our ongoing commitment to support the communities in which we operate, nothing could be more appropriate than helping to create a monument that pays tribute to a generation that has made our future, as a company and a nation, possible," explained Gloria Delgado, president of the SBC Foundation. "We are proud to be a founding contributor."

While the main focus of the campaign is education, employees hope that raising awareness also will lead to the raising of additional funds. The committee has set up a special contributions web site at www.sbcpioneers.org/wwii where the public can download a donation form and pledge their support. The web site also provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding the memorial and personal profiles of SBC employees who served during World War II. The month-long employee campaign will run through Memorial Day.

"We are grateful to SBC for its generosity in being the first to support this cause," said Bill Bishop, director of development for the WWII Memorial. "The added support of the company's employees serves to underscore the passion American's feel for those who served on the battlefield and at home. It was this same collective spirit during the war that allowed us to be triumphant."

All donations raised through the SBC employee campaign will go to the World War II Memorial Fund in Washington D.C.

The World War II Memorial will be the first national memorial dedicated to honoring military veterans of the war, the citizens on the home front, and the nation at large. The monument will be located on the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. The American Battle Monuments Commission is overseeing the construction of the Memorial.

The SBC Foundation, philanthropic arm of SBC Communications, Inc., addresses community needs in the areas of education, community economic development, health and human services, and arts and culture. Since its formation in 1984, the SBC Foundation has distributed $352 million in grants, United Way support and employee outreach programs focused primarily within SBC's core service areas. It is an independent foundation funded by SBC Communications Inc. and its family of companies.

The Southwestern Bell Pioneers consist of more than 195,000 employees and retirees who have pledged to provide outstanding community service throughout the areas served by SBC Communications Inc. and its family of companies.

SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a global communications leader. Through its subsidiaries' trusted brands - Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, SBC Telecom, Nevada Bell, SNET and Cellular One - and world-class network, SBC's subsidiaries provide local and long-distance phone service, wireless and data communications, paging, high-speed Internet access and messaging, cable and satellite television, security services and telecommunications equipment, as well as directory advertising and publishing. In the United States, the company currently has 90.4 million voice grade equivalent lines, 11.2 million wireless customers and is undertaking a national expansion program that will bring SBC service to an additional 30 markets. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in 23 countries. With more than 204,000 employees, SBC is the 13th largest employer in the U.S., with annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.

SBC Communications Inc.

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