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NEWS RELEASES
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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
Contact:
Carson Chandler, (407) 246 - 2822
Heather Allebaugh, (407) 246 - 3423

AT&T Awards $75,000 Contribution to Improve Educational Opportunities
for Disadvantaged Orlando Youth
ORLANDO, Fla., May 20, 2008 — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)
announced yesterday a $75,000 donation to the Parramore Kidz Zone (PKZ)
to assist the nonprofit organization’s efforts to boost the school
performance of disadvantaged youth in the Parramore area in Orlando.
“Investing in programs that can make a true difference in the quality of
life for Floridians, especially our children, is a real priority for the
AT&T team,” said Marshall Criser III, president of AT&T Florida. “We are
committed to helping indispensable community-based organizations like
the Parramore Kidz Zone by providing them with the tools needed to help
the wonderful kids who participate in the program.”
PKZ will use the AT&T contribution to enhance the computer capabilities
at its Homework Room sites throughout the community and increase access
for neighborhood children to the University of Central Florida’s Digital
U program. The money will also be used to expand tutoring services and
academic-enrichment activities for all youth, develop and launch
workshops to teach parents how to best interact with schools and
teachers, and to expand peer-support activities to improve youth’s
attitudes toward succeeding in school and life.
PKZ, a grass-roots project launched in 2006 by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer,
provides Parramore children with pre-kindergarten education, health
care, jobs, mentoring, tutoring and after-school programs — such as
sports, arts and technology programs — to help ensure a smooth
transition to adulthood.
The mission of PKZ, which is patterned after the nationally acclaimed
Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, is to transform Orlando’s most
distressed neighborhoods into a healthy place for children.
“Our goal is to engage every child in Parramore in positive, quality
programming,” Dyer said. “That doesn’t happen without support from
responsible community partners like AT&T. Their generous contributions
will help transform the lives of Orlando’s most at-risk youth.”
The Parramore Heritage Community, a 1.4-square-mile neighborhood in the
heart of downtown Orlando, is home to 2,066 children, with 73 percent of
them living in poverty. Children living in poverty are more likely than
other children to perform below grade level in school, have high truancy
and dropout rates, become teen parents and end up in child abuse and
juvenile crime systems.
For more information visit att.com
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