Verizon Wireless Funds Scholarships To 20 Southern California Hispanic Students

IRVINE, CA — Local Hispanic students were honored recently for their academic excellence at a luncheon hosted by Verizon Wireless and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF). Each scholar was awarded $2,500 through the company's support of HSF. Verizon Wireless has pledged additional support for the scholarship cycle that is currently open.

Each of the students has a personal story of the pursuit of individual excellence. For example, Javier Mendez from San Diego, freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, is majoring in computer engineering and furthering a personal and family dream. The son of migrant farm workers who endured hardships and were unable to finish their primary education, Javier said, "I knew I did not want to throw away what my parents had endured. Instead I wanted to prove to them that, by graduating from college, every challenge they faced and valiantly fought for me was worth it."

"We're grateful to Verizon Wireless for their commitment to education and their continued support of our Hispanic youth," said Gary Jimenez, HSF's Vice President for the Southern California Region. "We are very proud of students like Javier who can personally attest to how these awards contribute to their success."

Verizon Wireless has contributed nearly $600,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund since 2003. Most recently, during Hispanic Heritage Month, the company donated a portion of its sales to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded to students in 2009.

Scholarship applications for the 2009-2010 academic year are currently available for online submission. The deadline to submit an application is February 18, 2009, by 11:59 pm, EST. Interested students can go to www.hsf.net to complete the electronic application form.

"We encourage Latinos to apply for these scholarships," said Oscar Madrid, associate director of Multicultural Marketing for Verizon Wireless' West Area. "We have seen these scholarships change lives and enable dreams at the college and graduate school levels."

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 70.8 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 71,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About Hispanic Scholarship Fund
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the nation's leading organization supporting Hispanic higher education. Founded in 1975 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, HSF's vision is to strengthen the country by advancing college education among Hispanic Americans. In support of its mission to double the rate of Hispanics earning college degrees, HSF provides the Latino community more college scholarships and educational outreach support than any other organization in the country. During the 2007-2008 academic year, HSF awarded almost 4,100 scholarships exceeding $26.6 million. In its 33-year history, HSF has awarded in excess of 86,000 scholarships, worth more than $247 million, to Latinos attending nearly 2,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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