Sprint celebrates Atlanta’s community spirit with more than $55,000 in grants to local non-profits

Sprint (NYSE: S) has awarded four Atlanta-area non-profit organizations with Sprint Foundation grants as part of the 2010 Sprint Local Grant Program and the 2010 Sprint Community Champions program. The Sprint Local Grant Program annually awards two $25,000 Sprint Foundation grants to Atlanta-area programs that support Sprint’s focus area of youth development. The Sprint Community Champions Program annually recognizes outstanding Atlanta-area residents who have made a positive impact on the community with Sprint Foundation grants to qualified non-profit organizations of the honorees’ choice. Grants were presented and Community Champions honored at a local reception last night.

(L - R): Patti Pearlberg, board of trustees Georgia Ballet; Michelle Ziemann-DeVos, executive director, Georgia Ballet; Gina Hyatt-Mazon, artistic director, Georgia Ballet; Michelle Chisholm, Sprint; Dot Dunaway, board of trustees, Georgia Ballet; Wendy Hawk, board of trustees, Georgia Ballet. (Photo: Business Wire)

The 2010 grant recipients and Community Champion honorees for Atlanta are as follows:

• The Georgia Ballet was selected as a 2010 Sprint Local Grant Program recipient and will receive a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its Arts in Education program. The program includes field trips to performances, in-school lecture demonstrations by professional dancers, a residency program for elementary schools and scholarships. Through the program, 17,000 students annually learn about cooperation, self-control and the importance of regular attendance for academic success.
• Hands on Atlanta was selected as a 2010 Sprint Local Grant Program recipient and will receive a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its Reading Adds Up and Discovery programs. Reading Adds Up is a literacy tutoring program for second- and third-grade students in the Atlanta Public School system that matches these students with trained volunteer tutors for an entire school year. The Discovery program provides free bi-weekly Saturday-morning enrichment activities ranging from arts and crafts to homework help to field trips for elementary students. These two programs will benefit more than 4,400 children in the Atlanta area.
• Atlanta resident Morgan Coffey was selected as the 2010 Sprint Adult Community Champion, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to her selected charitable organization, Stronghold Atlanta. Coffey started Stronghold Atlanta to offer help and support to victims of domestic violence. Her work with Stronghold Atlanta and the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta has helped changes the lives of hundreds of area women and their families.
• Lithonia resident Patrick Brown and Atlanta resident Allen Nolley were selected as 2010 Sprint Youth Community Champions, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant to their selected charitable organization, Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta. Brown and Nolley have both been very involved in their communities and their schools. They have helped organize and participate in many fundraisers and charitable events, and they are both involved in the Boys and Girls Club’s Keystone Leadership Club.

This is the second year Sprint has conducted the Sprint Local Giving Program and the Sprint Community Champions Program in Atlanta. To learn more about either program, please visit www.sprint.com/localgiving.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48.1 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. With its customer-focused strategy, you can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About the Sprint Foundation

Since its establishment in 1989, the Sprint Foundation has provided more than $110 million to community organizations across the country with a special emphasis on those supporting K-12 education, positive youth development, arts and culture outreach, and Internet safety. Through direct grants and a robust matching-gifts program for employees and retirees, the Sprint Foundation creatively and thoughtfully delivers Sprint’s commitment to championing the communities where Sprint customers and employees live.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6461029&lang=en