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GTE and its Support of Literacy

Overview

GTE has long believed that the ability to read, write, and communicate is the foundation for success in life. It is the key to individual freedom and, as such, is critical to America�s democracy and free enterprise system.

For the 40 million Americans with very low literacy skills it is a struggle to read to their children. They cannot understand instructions on an appliance warranty or find an intersection on a street map. Equally disturbing are the facts that 43 percent of those with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty and nearly one-third of prison inmates have very low literacy skills.

That is why GTE has been singularly committed to boosting literacy levels in America for the better part of a decade. The company supports adult, child, and family literacy programs nationwide through a number of initiatives. (Read about our activities online at www.gtereads.org.)

GTE�s championing of the literacy cause, however, exceeds the traditional bounds of corporate philanthropy. In order to boost awareness and funding for literacy organizations across the country, GTE has marshaled a compelling line-up of resources. The line-up includes corporate partners, several noted celebrities, the leading literacy organizations in the country, and 90,000 GTE employees nationwide.

And in what is perhaps an unprecedented move, the company has established a means of reaching out to its 16 million telephone customers nationwide and enlisting their help in the effort.

GTE�s Customer Literacy Donation Program, �Check Into Literacy!�

The centerpiece of GTE�s literacy efforts is a bill donation system that is perhaps the first of its kind. Beginning around November 1, each of GTE�s 16 million telephone customers across the country will be eligible to donate $1 per month to literacy programs in their region via a simple check-off statement on their telephone bills. The money will go to a newly formed public charity, GTE Reads, which will distribute the funds to existing national, state, and community-based literacy organizations.