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AT&T Joins 'Share Our Strength' in the Fight Against Childhood Hunger to Mark National Day of Service

Posted on: Monday, 12 January 2009, 06:15 CST

DALLAS, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In response to President-elect Barack Obama's call to action for all Americans to participate in the annual national day of service, Share Our Strength and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), along with the Communications Workers of America and the AT&T Pioneers, have today announced two new initiatives in the fight against childhood hunger -- a text-donation program that encourages wireless phone users, including AT&T customers, to donate to Share Our Strength via their mobile phones, and a nationwide AT&T employee food drive. Share Our Strength, a national organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger, provides support for hundreds of hunger-relief organizations.

Text SHARE to Contribute

From now until March 1, AT&T wireless customers can donate $5 to Share Our Strength by simply texting the word "SHARE" to 20222 on their mobile device. AT&T will match text donations for a total contribution up to $100,000.

The national text-donation initiative is a coordinated effort between Share Our Strength and the Mobile Giving Foundation, a nonprofit wireless industry organization. Donations will be used to help provide food for the 12.4 million children at risk of hunger in America and will help address the recent increase in traffic at food banks across the country.

"In this economy, charitable donations are usually one of the first expenses to be eliminated," said Bill Shore, founder and Executive Director of Share Our Strength. "Yet at the same time, more people need our help. With a huge system of support from wireless carriers like AT&T, we are able to reach millions of people and communicate that, together, their simple text donations of just $5 can help feed millions of children."

AT&T Pioneers, Employees Join the Cause

In addition to the text-donation program, AT&T Pioneers -- the industry's largest employee and retiree volunteer organization -- is leading a nationwide AT&T employee food drive to benefit community food banks that serve America's children in 32 major metropolitan areas.

Today, the food drive kicks off in six cities -- Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; Hartford, Conn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. -- with the first deliveries to food banks occurring Jan. 19. The remaining 26 cities will launch their food drives that same day to commemorate the nation's national day of service and the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Full list of cities below.)

"As a proud participating sponsor of this Share Our Strength program, we are pleased to offer AT&T's expansive resources -- our vast network of wireless subscribers, 300,000 employees and dedicated AT&T Pioneers -- as part of a greater effort toward eliminating childhood hunger," said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Every text counts."

Annie Hill, Executive Vice President, Communications Workers of America, said: "At CWA, we are proud to support the Share Our Strength program, particularly at a time when more and more of America's children are being put at risk of hunger every day. Together we will work to fight childhood hunger in America by encouraging our members to get involved and help make a difference."

AT&T Food Drive Locations Birmingham, Ala. Anchorage, Alaska Little Rock, Ark. Hartford, Conn.* San Diego, Calif. Anaheim, Calif. Atlanta, Ga.* Miami, Fla. Sacramento, Calif.* San Ramon, Calif. Chicago, Ill.* Hoffman Estates, Ill. Indianapolis, Ind. Wichita, Kan. Louisville, Ky. Baton Rouge, La. Detroit, Mich. Washington, D.C.* Jackson, Miss. St. Louis, Mo. Seattle, Wash. Charlotte, N.C. New York, N.Y. Columbus, Ohio Oklahoma City, Okla. Los Angeles, Calif. Reno, Nev. San Antonio, Texas Nashville, Tenn. Dallas, Texas* Milwaukee, Wis. Bedminster, N.J. *AT&T food drive kick-off city

Information on Share Our Strength's Operation No Kid Hungry initiative, including the cross-carrier text donation program, can be found at http://www.strength.org. For more on how AT&T is contributing to the cause and for information about all of AT&T offerings, visit http://www.att.com.

NOTE: A one-time charge of $5 will be added to users' mobile phone bills. Standard messaging rates and additional fees may apply. All charges are billed by and payable to users' respective mobile service providers. This tax-deductible donation benefits the Share our Strength campaign. Service is available on most carriers. Users can unsubscribe at anytime by texting 'STOP' to 20222 or text 'HELP' for more info.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation's fastest 3G network and the best global wireless coverage of any carrier, and the nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

(C) 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Note: This AT&T news release and other announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss.

About CWA

The Communications Workers of America represents 700,000 workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It's one of America's fastest growing unions. CWA members work in communications, media, airlines, manufacturing and public service.

About AT&T Pioneers

Over 300,000 AT&T employees and retirees are involved in the AT&T Pioneers volunteer organization. In 2007, the AT&T Pioneers donated more than 10 million hours of personal time to community outreach activities -- worth more than $195.7 million.

About Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength(R) is a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. We weave together a net of community groups, activists and food programs to catch children at risk of hunger and ensure they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. We work with the culinary industry to create engaging, pioneering programs like Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation(R), Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale(R), Share Our Strength's A Tasteful Pursuit(R), Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out(TM)(R), and Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline(R). For more information, please visit http://www.strength.org.

About Mobile Giving Foundation

The Mobile Giving Foundation is enabling the mobile channel for charitable giving by providing the organizational layer, operational guidelines and technical infrastructure for nonprofit organizations and donors to use the incredible power and convenience of mobile technology. For further information, please refer to the MGF Web site at http://www.mobilegiving.org.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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