Verizon Wireless Helps Make Wishes Come True

Milwaukee — Verizon Wireless is proud and excited to announce its one-year partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.

Verizon Wireless is the official wireless provider of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin and supports several Make-A-Wish Foundation events, including:

• serving as the starring sponsor of the Tom Morgan Memorial Golf Outing, June 5, 2000, at the Mequon Country Club;
• co-sponsorship of the Make-A-Wish Run/Walk to Fiesta on August 26, 2000 at the Summerfest grounds;
• sponsorship of the Taste Upon A Star 2001 at the Italian Community Center on February 10, 2001.

In addition, Verizon Wireless will provide in-kind phones and services to staff, as well as event volunteers.

Most important, by June, 2001, Verizon Wireless will have been responsible for granting at least three wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.

"The name Verizon comes from two roots, one being 'horizon.' That word suggests limitless possibilities," says Carolyn Schamberger, Public Relations Manager for Verizon Wireless. "In that same vein, that is how we see our relationship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin. We believe the partnership will serve to provide endless opportunities and tremendous possibilities for making wishes come true."

"We are delighted to welcome the team at Verizon Wireless to the Make-A-Wish family and look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership to make wishes come true," says Patti Gorsky, President, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.

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About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 16 million wireless voice and data customers and nearly 4 million paging customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL) and Vodafone AirTouch Plc (LSE:VOD; NYSE:VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. Verizon Wireless will be further strengthened by the addition of the wireless assets of GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE) when it completes its merger with Bell Atlantic. When the merger is complete, the new company will have a footprint covering nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets.

Verizon Wireless, headquartered in New York City and Bedminster, NJ, is 30,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company in its Media Center on the Web at: http://www.verizonwireless.com/mediacenter.

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