Diverse Organizations Share Commitment to Philanthropy Through Gifts to the National Urban League

New York, NY, Nov. 9, 1999¾ At its 43^rd annual Equal Opportunity Day (EOD) Dinner slated for Tuesday, Nov. 9 at New York’s PIER SIXTY, Anheuser-Busch Foundation, The Chase Manhattan Corporation, The Gillette Company and SBC Communications Inc. will present the National Urban League with $4 million in grants. The funds are earmarked to support the League’s youth, education and parental involvement initiatives, as well as those of the League’s homeownership and technology departments.

Each organization also earns induction into the National Urban League’s Million Dollar Hall of Fame, an esteemed group of organizations that have made generous donations to support League efforts. Following, a look at the distribution of the $4 million from this latest group of League supporters:

• Anheuser-Busch Foundation: $1 million for the League’s endowment.
• The Chase Manhattan Corporation (NYSE: CMB): $1 million, part of which will support the League’s Homeownership Development Project, a three-year initiative to improve the level of homeownership among African-Americans and other people of color. Other monies will go towards supporting the League’s scholarship and endowment funds.
• The Gillette Company (NYSE: G): $1 million, primarily to support the League’s Campaign for African-American Achievement, an initiative to boost the academic achievement of minority youth. A portion of the Gillette funding is focused on the Urban League of Eastern Massachusett’s CMEP program, an attempt to develop a model of strategies to facilitate parents’ access to schools and educational services and to increase parental understanding of school district procedures and practices.
• SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC): $1 million restricted endowment gift, targeted to support the League’s technology programs, including overseeing and assisting League affiliates in creating and maintaining community technology centers. SBC’s gift will also go towards helping the League conduct efforts to raise awareness of the digital divide, the gap in computer ownership and access to technology between minority communities and the mainstream.

"Research shows that benefits of homeownership include the creation of assets and wealth. In the new millennium, access to technology will be a new identifier of the nation’s haves and have-nots. And we all know the value and importance of academic achievement," National Urban League President Hugh B. Price said. "Through their generous donations, these organizations demonstrate an understanding that these are issues critical to African-American economic success in the 21^st century. Their gifts represent a marked investment and belief in the League’s efforts to advance progress in these areas."

The National Urban League’s EOD Dinner was established in 1956 to recognize corporations and individuals who make outstanding contributions towards creating equal opportunities in urban communities and advancing the agenda for issues deemed exemplary of the League’s mission. This year’s Dinner Chairman is Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner, National Football League, and co-emcees are husband and wife team Al Roker and Deborah Roberts.

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is the premier social service and civil rights organization in America. The League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, community-based movement, headquartered in New York City with professionally staffed affiliates in 115 cities in 35 states and the District of Columbia.