Georgia Natual Gas Honored for Dedication to Community Service
Award presented by Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network

(Washington, D.C. – August 5, 2005) – Georgia Natural Gas, a utility company based in Atlanta, Ga., received the Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs (AEWVP) in recognition of the company's outstanding commitment to engaging employees in community service.

The award was presented today at noon at the Washington Convention Center during the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. David Lauren, senior vice president of advertising, marketing and corporate communications, Polo Ralph Lauren, was the keynote speaker for the awards luncheon.

The Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs is an international award that honors businesses of all sizes and from all industries that have made a commitment to effectively engaging employees in volunteering. The Points of Light Foundation, 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.

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, served as counselors for a child abuse prevention program, and much more.

"The skills that build successful communities are the same skills that build successful companies. Georgia Natural Gas wants employees with initiative, critical thinking and problem-solving skills - employees with dedication and a sense of community pride. When employees like that work to improve communities, they are also working to grow our company."

Helene Jeffrey, Supply Analyst and the first Georgia Natural Gas employee “Volunteer of the Year,” reflects on her volunteer experiences:  "I volunteer at many events sponsored through Georgia Natural Gas because my family was a direct recipient of such kindness after arriving in this country…My reward is in knowing that I may have touched at least one person's life that otherwise may have felt abandoned. GNG honored me by naming me Volunteer of the Year, which is truly humbling and fulfilling."

Georgia Natural Gas was selected by a panel of distinguished judges from major business and nonprofit groups, who based their decisions on how well the company's overall workplace-based volunteer program reflects the Principles of Excellence for Workplace Volunteering, 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.

“Georgia Natural Gas is a role model for other members of the business community to make volunteering an integral part of their workplace culture,” Goodwin adds.

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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.