BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX MOBILE ANSWERS THE CALL FOR SUPPORT FROM HOPE FOR KIDS

BEDMINSTER, NJ — As part of its "Wireless at Work..." community service program, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile has announced support for two events to be held this week by Hope For Kids, an organization that aims to increase immunization among inner-city children. Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile will donate more than $11,000 in cellular telephones and service to the "HOPE for a Million Kids" annual immunization outreach drive on April 20 and the "HOPE for Kids FundRACE" on April 19 and 20, a 535-mile bicycle ultra-marathon between Boston and Washington, D.C.

In one of its largest donations to date, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile will provide 99 cellular telephones to help "HOPE for a Million Kids" volunteers in the New England and Washington D.C./Baltimore regions communicate with one another as they educate inner-city parents on immunization and link them to neighborhood healthcare providers. In addition, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is sponsoring the first annual HOPE for Kids FundRACE by providing race volunteers with 34 cellular telephones to ensure the safety of racers along the route. The organization's goal is to raise $1.5 million from the race.

"Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's contribution will enable our race coordinators to remain in constant contact with one another regardless of their location along the course, helping us efficiently meet the needs of the bikers and keep the race on track," stated Mike Sheridan, special events coordinator for HOPE worldwide. "Its donation will also enable our immunization drive volunteers to reach far more children by communicating with one another in real-time to identify where more volunteers and literature packets are needed. With support from companies like Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, we hope to reach one million needy children throughout the country in one day."

"We strongly endorse HOPE for Kids' goal to make the lives of inner city children healthier and happier," stated Cynthia White, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile. "We are delighted to lend our technology to support the organization's efforts and hope our contribution leads to a very successful weekend in terms of the number of children immunized and the level of funds raised."

In 1995, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile supported the HOPE for Kids immunization outreach program in Providence, R.I. By enabling the organization's staff to dispatch people and materials more efficiently, the phones helped Providence volunteers reach more households than all the other New England cities combined.

With more than three million customers, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is the largest wireless service provider on the east coast and second largest in the United States. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, the company offers a full range of wireless voice, data, and paging services to the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and through a separate subsidiary, in the Southwest. The company was formed in July 1995 through the combination of Bell Atlantic Mobile's and NYNEX Mobile's cellular operations.

Since its inception in 1993, HOPE for Kids has become the most effective immunization outreach program in America, now operating in 35 cities across the country. HOPE for Kids is a project of HOPE worldwide, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) charity based in Radnor, PA, with projects for the poor and needy in 32 countries around the world.

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