Editor's Note: For complete winner profiles visit Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs.

Points of Light Foundation Honors Businesses Dedicated to Community Service

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 5, 2005) — The Points of Light Foundation will present the Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteering today at the Washington DC Convention Center at noon. David Lauren, senior vice president of advertising, marketing, and corporate communications for Polo Ralph Lauren, will deliver the keynote address at the luncheon and help present the awards to the six honorees. Each honoree has developed and managed an effective, ongoing workplace volunteer program.

Businesses increasingly see the value of supporting volunteering as a way to boost employee morale, improve community life, develop future workers, and help the bottom line. The Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs (AEWVP) is an international award that honors businesses of all sizes and from all industries that effectively engage employees in volunteering.

The honorees are:

Aetna, Inc. (Hartford, CT) : Aetna Employees Reaching Out (AERO), Aetna's employee volunteering and giving program, integrates community involvement and business. When employees get involved in communities to teach underprivileged children dental hygiene, serve on hospital governance boards, and conduct other caring acts, they help Aetna to “build trusting, value-added relationships” with constituents, “anticipate the future” in healthcare, and invigorate other values expressed in The Aetna Way—Aetna's business approach.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (San Jose, CA): Cisco's corporate giving and citizenship programs build stakeholder trust and loyalty that have a powerful impact on the global community. Cisco's community investment programs are designed to help build stronger and more productive communities by providing resources to nonprofit organizations that address critical needs in the community. Cisco employees volunteer their time and technical expertise to develop strategies that help nonprofits maximize their reach and effectiveness.

Federated Department Stores, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH and New York, NY): Federated Department Stores' community commitment is put into action with Partners in Time—an employee volunteer program founded in 1989. Since that year, employees have given 1.1 million volunteer hours of volunteer time to serve 230 cities nationwide. About 50,000 volunteers in 500 Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores and Federated support divisions participate in 2,500 community service projects annually.

Georgia Natural Gas (Atlanta, GA): The 60 employees at Georgia Natural Gas have made a tremendous difference in the lives of children and senior citizens in the community near the company's Atlanta headquarters. Employees have counseled low-income job seekers, tutored children in a community school, introduced a reading program for preschoolers, and served as counselors for a child abuse prevention program.

The Home Depot (Atlanta, GA): The Home Depot's associate volunteer program, Team Depot, was formalized in 1992 as a way to support the communities where its associates live and work. Through The Home Depot Foundation, Team Depot, and ongoing

partnerships with nonprofit groups, The Home Depot donates millions of hours, tools, and supplies each year to community service projects.

The Washington Trust Company (Westerly, RI): Washington Trust's service to the community, through both its employee volunteerism and charitable contributions, unites its employees, customers, and community by spreading a sense of social responsibility and goodwill among them. This creates a positive response that reflects the importance of Washington Trust's employee-selected core values—quality, integrity, and community.

“In industries as diverse as retail, computer networking, financial services and health benefits, companies are discovering how community service programs can deliver real-world results,” says Robert K. Goodwin, president and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network. “Workplace volunteering is an increasing business trend throughout the United States. Many business leaders agree that employee volunteer programs, which encourage employees to share their time and talent by volunteering in the community, help businesses achieve company objectives and deliver on their values.”

Top executives from the winning companies will participate in a Business Leadership Forum prior to the awards ceremony from 10AM until 11:30AM. Topics for discussion will include how good corporate citizenship and workplace volunteering influence business success.

Selected honorees were judged by major business and nonprofit groups, based on how well each company's overall workplace-based volunteer program reflect the Principles of Excellence, a plan to ACT:

•  Acknowledge that effective volunteer programs contribute to a company's ability to achieve its business goals;

•  Commit to establishing and supporting a program that involves all employees and treats volunteering like any other key business requirement; and

•  Target volunteering to address serious social problems within their communities.

The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, the nation's leading volunteer resource, views companies as one of the primary sources of volunteers and provides a full range of services to help businesses develop and sustain workplace volunteer programs.

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The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, supports and organizes the vital work of community volunteers who help solve our nation's most serious social problems by bringing people and resources together. The Foundation builds knowledge, skills and programs for volunteer leaders and volunteers to succeed, and provides leadership to mobilize volunteers in thousands of local communities across the country. For more information, call 202-729-8000 or visit www.pointsoflight.org.