Sprint continues to support Atlanta community with more than $55,000 in grants to local non-profits

Sprint (NYSE: S) recently announced the Atlanta recipients of the 2011 Sprint Local Grant Program and the 2011 Sprint Community Champions program. In total, five area non-profit organizations are being awarded grants as part of these signature community-support programs. The Sprint Local Grant Program annually awards two $25,000 Sprint Foundation grants to Atlanta-area non-profits 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.

Kristin Wallace, Sprint, (left) presents Sprint Local Grant Program grant check to Janice McKenzie-Crayton, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta (Photo: Business Wire)

The 2011 grant recipients and Community Champion honorees for Atlanta are as follows:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta was selected as a 2011 Sprint Local Grant Program recipient and will receive a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its Mentoring Children of Prisoners program, which will provide 1,000 children who have an incarcerated parent or guardian with specialized one-on-one mentoring over a 24-month period. Youth enrolled in the program will spend at least four hours per week with a mentor engaging in positive activities specifically focused to equip them to handle the issues that arise as a result of having a parent in prison.
• GivingPoint Inc was selected as a 2011 Sprint Local Grant Program recipient and will receive a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its Growing Gardens, Connecting Neighbors, Cultivating Communities project. GivingPoint is a center for learning, leadership, character and service for young people ages 13 to 24, and this project will allow 4,000 students from four local public schools to work together to transform 5,000 square feet of land by building and enhancing community gardens. The students will improve the environment, learn about the world around them, produce food to feed the community, create healthy eating habits and positive lifestyle changes, and leverage technology to support their volunteer efforts.
• Smyrna resident Nikki Wilson was selected as the 2011 Sprint Adult Community Champion, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to her selected charitable organization, Dream Makers Youth Foundation. Wilson spends much of her time assisting disabled and special-needs children in the community. Dream Makers is a non-profit that Wilson started seven years ago that provides community-based educational, recreational and therapeutic services to children with special needs throughout metropolitan Atlanta. Through the organization, Wilson provides much-needed programming and services to the children she serves and their families, frequently using her own funds to do so.
• Canton resident Sean Andreassen was selected as a 2011 Sprint Youth Community Champion, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $1,250 grant to his selected charitable organization, Habitat for Humanity-North Central Georgia. Andreassen is an avid volunteer with Habitat for Humanity who assists with framing, siding, painting and any other projects that need to be done. Andreassen became so involved with the program that he even started a Habitat for Humanity club at his school – a club that grew to more than 40 members, helped construct a home for a deserving family and raised $5,000 for a site build.
• Chamblee resident Nina Tran was selected as a 2011 Sprint Youth Community Champion, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $1,250 grant to her selected charitable organization, Center for Pan Asian Community Service. Tran has been involved in many community programs, including Community Action for Teens, a community-service group for high-school students (Tran served as the club’s historian); Project Exhale, an event that helped raise healthy eating habits in the community (Tran was a co-lead organizer); and Digital Connectors, a program teaching high-school students computer skills which the students then teach to others in the community (Tran participated in the program and was actively involved in getting other student participants).

Sprint is a long-time supporter of the Atlanta community, and this is the third year Sprint has conducted the Sprint Local Giving Program and the Sprint Community Champions Program in the market. In total, these programs have provided more than $172,000 in support to local non-profits, including Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, The Georgia Ballet, Hands on Atlanta and Imagine It! Children’s Museum of 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 53 million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 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, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. 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 supported community organizations across the country with a special emphasis on 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.

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