Verizon Foundation Provides Grants, Volunteer Support to Improve Education Programs in India

CHENNAI, India, October 8, 2013 /3BL Media/ -  The Verizon Foundation has broadened its community-empowerment initiatives in India with three grants to support and expand education programs for children in Chennai and near Bangalore.

The foundation awarded grants to the following organizations:

Olcott Memorial High School in Besant Nagar, Chennai, which will receive a grant of approximately 17,55,000 rupees (approximately $28,000) to start its Plus 2 Class, with special emphasis on computers and English-language skills, extending the benefit of the school’s current free education beyond Class 10. This will help the students with the skills they need to increase employability.

Shanti Bhavan, a residential school for economically and socially disadvantaged children located near the village of Baliganapalli in Tamil Nadu, outside of Bangalore, which will receive a grant totaling Rs. 15,65,000 (approximately $25,000).  The grant will cover tuition, room, board and medical expenses of 15 more of the school’s students. Dr. Abraham George, founder of Shanti Bhavan, said: “Verizon’s grant has made it possible for us to offer quality education and care to more children from the poorest segment of the society. They will one day transform their families and communities for the better.”

The Altius Foundation, which operates its Karka Project offering the innovative Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLE) at Sree Karpagavalli Vidyalaya, in Mylapore, Chennai. A grant of Rs. 14,40,000 (approximately $23,000) will enable the Altius Foundation to double the number of students benefitted from the program to 50. Srikanth Chandrasekaran, founder of the Altius Foundation, said: “The SOLE course utilizes a variety of technology-based teaching methodologies to help make education effective for the poorest first-generation learners.”

These programs align with Verizon’s focus on using its technology and resources to help provide powerful answers to social issues in education, and the Verizon Foundation’s global giving program extends beyond the U.S. to local communities around the world where its employees work and live.

Volunteerism a Key Part of Verizon’s Model of Philanthropy

In addition, Verizon employees in India will serve as volunteers to support the education programs, mentoring the schools’ students.

Santosh Bijur, vice president and managing director, Verizon Data Services India, said: “Verizon is committed to sharing its success with communities and this has been well-complemented by the passion of our India IT employees for their sustained volunteerism.  With more than 6,800 employees in India, we comprise Verizon’s largest presence outside the U.S., so it’s only natural for us to do more to help empower the communities in India where our employees live and work.” 

About the Verizon Foundation

The Verizon Foundation is focused on accelerating social change by using the company’s innovative technology to help solve pressing problems in education, healthcare and energy management.  Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live.  Verizon’s employees are generous with their donations and their time, having logged more than 6.8 million hours of service to make a positive difference in their communities.  For more information about Verizon’s philanthropic work, visit www.verizonfoundation.org; or for regular updates, visit the Foundation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/verizonfoundation) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/verizongiving).

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with more than 100 million retail connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America’s most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries.  A Dow 30 company with nearly $116 billion in 2012 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 180,900.  For more information, visit about.verizon.com.

VERIZON’S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon’s News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news.  To receive news releases by email, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.