U.S. Chamber Announces the 2009 Corporate Citizenship Award Winners

In spite of economy, exemplary businesses continue feeding, educating, and making our communities safer and healthier

WASHINGTON, D.C.—At an awards dinner at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last night, UPS, Abbott, Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., Chevron Corporation with the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership took home the 2009 Corporate Citizenship Awards from the U.S. Chamber's Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC).

"This past year has not been an easy year for anyone," said BCLC Senior Vice President and Executive Director Stephen Jordan. "Given the circumstances, the caliber and depth of commitment of this year's award finalists and winners was truly impressive."

BCLC presented awards in the following categories:

U.S. Community Service—UPS established its national Road Code program, a four-week teen safe-driving course, that raises public awareness about the importance of safe teen driving. UPS has provided a three-year $1.5 million grant to local Boys & Girls Clubs to implement the program across America.

International Community Service—Abbott engages in a public-private partnership with Tanzania to modernize the country's health system and provide testing and treatment to HIV patients. Nearly one in three people on HIV treatment in Tanzania are benefitting from funding, employee volunteers, and infectious disease experts provided by the Abbott Fund. To date, more than $60 million has been invested in the Tanzania program which also provides assistance for orphans and vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS.

Corporate Stewardship—Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. provides community support to charities, employee scholarships, and the United Way. Wegmans supplied 16 million pounds of food for hunger relief in 2008 and raised $2 million in customer point-of-sale cash donations for food banks through their Check Out Hunger Campaign. Since the Scholarship Program began in 1984, Wegmans has awarded over $67 million in scholarships that impact about 2,500 students in pursuit of a higher education.

Partnership Award—Chevron Corporation and the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership joined efforts to establish learning centers in underserved schools in Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, Venezuela and Brazil. The Learning Centers have positively affected over 400,000 teachers, students, and community members, and improved student motivation, academic performance, and enrollment.

The 10th annual Corporate Citizenship Awards Dinner and presentation took place last night at the historic U.S. Chamber of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. Video and photos are posted on the BCLC website /bclc/default.

BCLC is the U.S. Chamber's resource and voice for businesses' social and philanthropic interests. Its mission is to advance the positive role of business in society.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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