AT&T Employees Honor National Day of Service and Remembrance Through Volunteerism in Their Communities

Through AT&T Cares, More than 140,000 AT&T Employees and Retirees to Participate in Food Drives, Cell Phones for Soldiers and Job Shadow for Teens
 
Dallas, Texas - In commemoration of the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, AT&T Cares, the company’s volunteer initiative, is supporting the efforts of more than 140,000 AT&T employees and retirees who will honor this day by participating in acts of service. In remembrance of the 10-year anniversary of the attacks, 9/11 nonprofit group MyGoodDeed and HandsOn Network, the volunteer activation division of Points of Light Institute, are co-leading efforts to organize one million Americans in acts of charitable service.
 
Across the U.S., AT&T employees will volunteer to benefit their communities through the Pioneers Dish It Up food drive kicking off on 9/11; a recycling drive in 100 locations to benefit Cell Phones for Soldiers; and a 4,000 employee recruitment drive for Job Shadow, designed to help at-risk students connect the importance of education with workforce success.
 
“We’re especially grateful on this National Day of Service and Remembrance to honor our country with our community service,” said Charlene Lake, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer.  “We serve to unite and strengthen the critical bond between our business and our communities. And we challenge others to find inspiration in the heroes of 9/11 to embrace the value of service in their business.”  
 
To honor those who perished and those who rose to service after the tragedy, AT&T employees, through AT&T Cares, are focusing efforts on three main initiatives:

• Pioneers Dish It Up: AT&T Pioneers, a volunteer organization of AT&T employees and retirees, will participate in the national Pioneers Dish It Up food drive campaign from September 11 through September 25. During this time, AT&T Pioneers in 110 cities across the U.S. will collect healthy, nutritious, non-perishable food items, transport donations to food banks and serve at local shelters or soup kitchens. AT&T Pioneers will ask their coworkers and the community to drop off healthy food at designated sites in hopes of collecting 700,000 pounds of food during the two-week campaign.

• Cell Phones for Soldiers: AT&T employees will conduct a 100-location recycling drive to benefit Cell Phones for Soldiers, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing free calls home to deployed members of the armed forces. In 81 cities, the community will be encouraged to donate and recycle their used cell phones at drop-off sites across the country. Since 2008, AT&T Pioneers and employees have collected more than 40,000 cell phones for donation to Cell Phones for Soldiers. The cell phones are sold to a company that recycles them, and a portion of the proceeds are used to purchase calling cards that are sent to soldiers around the world.

• AT&T/JA Worldwide Job Shadow Initiative: AT&T Cares will hold a special 4,000 employee Job Shadow recruitment drive to encourage additional employees to volunteer and team up with students. Through the Job Shadow initiative, AT&T employees are helping students learn about careers and develop an understanding of the educational background and skills they will need to succeed on the job. Since the initiative started in 2008, more than 82,000 students have participated in 211 cities. AT&T employees have volunteered more than 28,000 times for Job Shadow, dedicating more than 225,000 volunteer hours, to help students learn. Job Shadow is a part of AT&T Aspire, a $100 million program to help improve high school success and workforce readiness.