Nicor's 2007 Philanthropic Contributions Top $1.8 Million

Published 03-25-08

Submitted by NICOR Inc.

NAPERVILLE, IL "“ March 25, 2008 "“ Today Nicor announced the results of its 2007 philanthropy endeavors, which resulted in more than $1.8 million in corporate and employee donations "“ and thousands of volunteer hours "“ benefiting more than 1,200 worthy causes in communities throughout northern Illinois.

"Nicor employees are committed to building better communities by donating their resources of time and money to worthwhile charitable organizations," said Julian Brown, Corporate Contributions Manager for Nicor Gas. "We go out into the communities where we live and serve to make a real difference with not just our check books but with paintbrushes, rakes, energy efficiency kits, new books, and our walking shoes."

Adventures in Reading with Nicor, the company's signature philanthropic program, is designed to foster a life-long love of reading among children. Nicor provides free books to students and parents, professional development training for teachers, special coaching sessions for parents, and motivational prizes and activities with assembly presentations at participating schools. The program launched in 2006, and since then it has encouraged students to read more than 76,000 books.

"Adventures in Reading with Nicor is a great way to inspire kids to become lifelong readers and to build community partnerships," said Claudia Colalillo, Senior Vice President Human Resources and Corporate Communications for Nicor Inc. and Nicor Gas. "It is an opportunity to bring children, families, teachers, and school leaders together by reading and participating in literacy activities that benefit our communities."

Nicor and its employees also demonstrated their generosity throughout 2007 by giving back to the communities in which they live and serve in a variety of additional ways:

The company enjoyed an 11th successful year at Nicor's Volunteer Day, an annual celebration of a year-round commitment to volunteerism. In 2007, nearly 1,000 employees and family members, along with community members and elected officials, participated in 28 projects in 21 northern Illinois communities. It has never rained on Nicor Volunteer Day "“ and 2007 was no exception!

The company and its employees joined forces and together they donated a total of $969,041 to the United Way's annual campaign. Nicor has ranked in the top 50 of Chicago corporate donors for the past 16 years.

More than 300 Nicor employees and family members laced up their walking shoes for the annual March of Dimes WalkAmerica (renamed March for Babies in 2008), which raised more than $43,500 (including company match) in donations to help save babies.

Together Nicor Gas, its employees, and customers helped keep people warm by contributing more than $271,629 to the Nicor Sharing Program, a home heating assistance program. Since the program's inception in 1983, the program has raised over $12 million in assistance and helped more than 70,000 families who did not qualify for government assistance but needed help in paying their gas bills. More than 1,900 customers were assisted by this program in 2007.

Nicor Gas is proud to be a founding sponsor of Illinois Dollars for Scholars. Since 1997, Nicor Gas has granted more than $283,500 in incentive grants to help establish Dollars for Scholars Chapters in Illinois. As a result, over the last decade, Nicor Gas chapters have raised more than $6.3 million and have distributed $2.79 million to over 3,110 students. Recently, Scholarships America honored Nicor Gas with its National Trustees Award, given annually to an organization exemplifying outstanding support for education through corporate-sponsored scholarship programs.

Nicor Services, Nicor Advanced Energy, and IBT Solutions sponsor "Coats for Kids" in cooperation with the Urban Youth Ministry division of Wayside Cross Ministries of Aurora. With the participation of 165 employees, 200 winter coats were donated to children in need throughout Kane, Kendall, and DuPage Counties.

Almost 500 Nicor employees utilized the corporation's Matching Gifts program to double their gifts and generate a combined $110,960 in donations to support various local and national non-profit organizations.

Nicor is the founding sponsor of Community Resource Network's chicagovolunteer.net, a Web site that brings together volunteers with more than 3,300 volunteer opportunities posted each day. With Nicor's support, the Web site received more than 877,000 visits, a 280 percent increase over the last two years.

Nicor, in support of its employee volunteer efforts, gave more than $21,500 in Volunteer in Partnership grants. These grants support nonprofit organizations that have Nicor employees as volunteers.

"Nicor endeavors to sponsor and participate in philanthropic events because we believe that giving back to the community lays the foundation upon which an even better community is built," said Colalillo.

To learn more about Nicor's philanthropic programs, visit www.nicor.com or contact Julian Brown, Manager of Corporate Contributions at 630-388-2763.

Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS) is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Its primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses. For more information, visit the Nicor Web site at www.nicor.com.

NICOR Inc.

Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS) is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Its primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses.

Nicor's 2007 Philanthropic Contributions Top $1.8 Million

Nicor's 2007 Philanthropic Contributions Top $1.8 Million

NICOR Inc.

NICOR Inc.

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