Alcatel-Lucent Foundation awards grants for educational projects in China and Latin America and organized first International Days of Caring event

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)today announced that its charitable foundation, the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation, has awarded two grants with a total value of more than US$380,000 to educational projects in China and Latin America.

In China the foundation is providing about US$156,000 in funding to the China Youth Development Fund (CYDF) and the International Youth Foundation to provide books, audio-visual equipment and sporting goods to 14 temporary schools being established to help grade school children in China’s Sichuan province, which was devastated by the May 12 earthquake.

“The International Youth Foundation and the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation have worked together for years with CYDF to support their Hope schools in China,” said William S. Reese, IYF’s President and CEO. “So we are pleased that we can continue this longstanding partnership by joining forces to improve educational opportunities for the young victims of the recent earthquake.”

In Latin America, working with The Resource Foundation, a non-profit organization that enables donors to support charitable projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation is providing nearly US$225,000 in funding for projects in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. These projects are designed to develop leadership and educational opportunities for girls in those countries and to help them acquire the skills they need to thrive in a world increasingly dependent on technology.

“These projects will empower almost 3,000 girls in Latin America by providing them with the skills necessary to succeed in a globalized world,” said Loren Finnell, President and CEO of The Resource Foundation. “We thank Alcatel-Lucent for this important contribution and its commitment to supporting communities in Latin America.”

These grants follow up on the company’s signature volunteer event this summer, the International Days of Caring, during which more than 10,000 employees of Alcatel-Lucent supported close to 160 projects in 15 countries. Organized by the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation, this global employee volunteer program underscored the company’s commitment to social responsibility by supporting and encouraging volunteer activities performed by teams of employees in communities where they live and work.

The International Days of Caring projects were team-driven, with an employee team coordinator leading each volunteer event. Employees from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Kenya, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States participated, with each Alcatel-Lucent volunteer donating an average of six hours for a total of about 60,000 volunteer hours over the two month period the events took place earlier this summer.

Teams of volunteers took part in such activities as diverse as cleaning up a therapeutic riding center in Oldwick, N.J., to wrapping gifts in department stores in France to benefit Le Rire Médecin, which provides clowns to cheer up children in hospitals. Working in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent’s office in Kenya, one group of volunteers delivered personal care items to residents of refuge camps in Kenya and Rwanda. A group in Florida participated in a two-day biking event to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of South Florida. Chinese employees produced environmentally friendly bags with the Alcatel-Lucent logo to replace banned plastic bags at supermarkets and stores. And employees in Ottawa served as greeters and stage workers at the International Children’s Festival earlier this summer.

“The first Alcatel-Lucent International Days of Caring event was a milestone for our company and for the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation,” said Beatrice Tassot, Executive Director of the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation. "The people of this company want to give back to their communities, and by working together on projects around the world we believe we can make a difference that will go beyond the days of caring.”