(Marketwire) - At the second annual Medals for Service awards ceremony held in Sacramento last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver presented Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) with the "Governor and First Lady's Medal for Service for the California Business Volunteer Program of the Year." Cisco was honored as an outstanding California company with an innovative, high-impact employee volunteer program.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• The Governor and First Lady's Medals for Service, an important component to the CaliforniaVolunteers volunteer recognition program, are designed to distinguish individual volunteers, business volunteer programs and nonprofit leaders whose innovation in the field of volunteerism have had a tangible impact on their community, region and the state of California.


• The Business Volunteer Program of the Year is awarded to a business with more than 500 employees with primary or significant business operations in California.


• Cisco was recognized with the California Business Volunteer Program of the Year Award for its substantial volunteer service footprint in the Silicon Valley and throughout California.


• In fiscal year 2009, Cisco employees contributed more than 76,900 volunteer hours and donated more than $3.6M to organizations around the world. Cisco provided more than $2.9M in matching funds for donations and approximately $548,000 in matches for employee volunteer time in fiscal year 2009.


• In the last year, Cisco's California employees have overseen the contribution of $2.2 million in product grants through reviewing recipient organizations' IT infrastructure, designing technology systems, and leading implementation.


• Cisco's community engagements and employee volunteer efforts that have had a substantial impact on communities and organizations in California. Employees have:




• Contributed more than 30,000 pounds of food, $1.3 million in donations and Cisco matches to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in 2009.


• Devoted more than 4,700 volunteer hours since 2008 to California affiliates of Habitat for Humanity


• Volunteered more than 10,000 hours since 2000 and 800 hours in 2009 alone to Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) assembling teachers' kits and sorting educational materials. Cisco was named RAFT's top corporate volunteer in 2009.


• Received the Family Giving Tree's Silver Sleigh award for the fifth consecutive year for the largest donation for a company of its size. During the 2009 Back to School Backpack Drive, Cisco employees donated more than 3,000 backpacks filled with supplies for underserved children.

Quotes:

Karen Baker, California state secretary of service and volunteering, "Volunteer service is the cornerstone to strengthening and improving our communities. We applaud Cisco's unique 360-degree approach to community service. By encouraging team and individual employee volunteering as well as matching gifts from the Cisco Foundation, and creating sustainable and replicable programs, Cisco's strong commitment to volunteerism is providing positive and lasting impact on local communities throughout California and beyond."

Terry Anderson, vice president, Cisco Corporate Relations, "Cisco is honored to receive this award from the governor and first lady of California. This is a testament to Cisco's continued strategic efforts to align our strengths to meet critical community needs while fostering the incredible spirit of giving throughout the company. We commend the tremendous efforts and passion of our employees and their dedication to serving California communities in innovative and impactful ways."

Additional Resources:

• Read about the second annual Medal for Service awards: http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/15111/


• Read about the Cisco@25 employee volunteer challenge: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/corp_121009.html


• About Cisco employee volunteering: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/csr2009/society/volunteering/index.html


• Read about Cisco's employee volunteer fair in San Jose and watch Karen Baker, California state secretary of service and volunteering, discuss Cisco's approach to employee volunteering. http://blogs.cisco.com/news/comments/volunteering_on_steroids/


• Read Cisco's 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/corp_120709.html

Tags / Keywords:
Cisco, volunteer, CSR, corporate social responsibility, citizenship, philanthropy

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