Sprint (NYSE: S) recently announced the 2012 recipients of its New York City Local Giving Program. In total, three area non-profit organizations were awarded grants as part of this signature community-support program. The New York City Local Giving Program awards Sprint Foundation grants totaling $50,000 to area non-profits that support Sprint’s philanthropic focus areas of youth development (including mentoring, leadership and academic achievement), arts and culture, and environmental stewardship. Grants were presented and recipient organizations honored at a local reception earlier this week.

Sprint presents DOROT Inc. grant check for 2012 New York City Local Giving Program; left to right: James Leibman, Sprint; Sanjay Gopal, Sprint; Mark Meridy, Executive Director of DOROT Inc.; Lori Denman, Sprint; Debby Ballard, Sprint; Wallace Chen, Sprint (Photo: Business Wire)

The 2012 grant recipients are:

• DOROT Inc. was awarded a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its Youth Volunteer Program. This program engages 2,200 young people in intergenerational activities such as digital-photography workshops; computer, art and cooking classes; holiday-package deliveries; and immigration-themed visiting programs. Students gain insights about the challenges facing seniors such as aging, loss and loneliness; discover potential career paths in service to seniors; and deepen their awareness of the resources that will be required to meet the demands of the aging on our society.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City was awarded a $15,000 Sprint Foundation grant to support its Community Based Mentoring and Workplace Mentoring Programs. The programs pair students with mentors from 40 of the city's top corporations and government agencies in order to learn more about potential career paths. Mentoring services are specialized for youth in foster care, immigrant youth, youth with special needs, pregnant and parenting teens, court-involved youth, and youth at high risk of arrest.
• Education Through Music was awarded a $10,000 Sprint Foundation grant for its NYC Partner School Program. Funding will be used to provide 14,000 students in 28 inner-city schools with comprehensive music curriculum, musical instruments and instructional materials. Teachers are given ongoing professional-development services, and the school principals will receive management guidance and leadership training in the arts.

Sprint is a long-time supporter of the New York City community, and this is the fourth year Sprint has conducted the New York City Local Giving Program. In total, through this and similar programs, Sprint has provided more than $220,000 in support to New York City-area non-profits, including Queens Library Foundation and VH1 Save The Music Foundation. 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 nearly 56 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 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. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 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.

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