Foundation helps PPG employees support schools, communities

March 17, 2006 - The PPG Industries Foundation helps put into action the PPG Blueprint value of supporting local communities where the company operates. Its programs for U.S. employees help ensure money goes to organizations that PPG employees and retirees actively support.

For example, employees can apply for Public Education Leadership Community (PELC) grants to support projects in local public schools that directly benefit and engage students. Grants in 2005 totaled $28,548.23 (32 grants to 24 different schools) and funded projects such as:

The purchase of physical education supplies at New Martinsville School near Natrium, WV, to reinforce how students can lead healthy lifestyles involving a range of activities from table tennis to circuit training.
The Pennsylvania Natural Resource Learning Center, shown at left – a 25- by 12-foot, glass-enclosed terrarium in the lobby of Hampton Middle School, Hampton, PA, containing a stream, a waterwheel, taxidermy exhibits and plants to help teach students about the environment.
Activities during Cultural Diversity Month at Oak Creek West Middle School in Oak Creek, WI, including a program for all students with ethnic dance instruction, storytelling and demonstrations by representatives from the International Institute of Wisconsin.
An outdoor science classroom, including a mini pond, plants, mulch, fish, snails and frogs, at Cherryville Elementary School near Shelby, NC, where a PPG employee’s daughter and other teachers provide hands-on ecology lessons.
A Challenge Day workshop at Rocky River Middle School near Cleveland, OH, in which students, teachers, parents and other adults in the community participated in activities and discussion regarding racism, bullying, violence, alcohol and drug use, and other difficult topics to help them break down social barriers, learn mutual respect, increase their awareness of others, and improve their choices and actions.

“The foundation’s employee programs are designed to empower PPG employees and to broaden participation in the use of foundation resources,” said Sue Sloan, foundation senior program officer. “We invite employees to tell us how they would like the foundation to support their communities, interests and involvement by submitting forms and online requests for PELC and other PPG Industries Foundation employee programs.”

Following are details on other PPG Industries Foundation programs for employees:

Grant Incentives for Volunteerism by PPG Employees (GIVE) Program
The GIVE program recognizes PPG employees’ ongoing volunteer efforts by providing $250 grants to the eligible U.S. charitable organizations and educational institutions employees serve. Eligible volunteerism may include service on a non-profit board; participation in fund raising; helping the elderly; mentoring or tutoring on a regular basis; or active involvement with youth teams, food banks, theater groups, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts groups.

Match ’n More Program
A yearlong two-to-one match through the foundation’s Match ’n More program for employee contributions to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium will end June 30, 2006, and the second Match ’n More designee will receive two-to-one matching foundation support for the 2007 calendar year. From the June 1 debut of the program through the end of 2005, 22 donors contributed $12,595 to the zoo, which the foundation matched doubly at $25,190. PPG employees are eligible for a $5 savings on zoo memberships and can submit these contributions for foundation matching through Match ’n More. Details about Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium membership packages are available on its Web site at http://www.pittsburghzoo.com.

PPG CARE Fund
PPG recently established the PPG CARE (Concern, Assistance and Relief for Employees) Fund within The Pittsburgh Foundation to offer support to employees whose lives are disrupted by disasters, such as those directly affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Matching Gifts Program
In 2005, matching gifts program activity consisted of 3,150 grants totaling about $1,117,000 to 785 different organizations supported by 1,609 PPG employees. Most activity was for education, followed by cultural organizations and gifts to the American Red Cross for disaster relief.

PPG Employee-Child Scholarships
The foundation provides 40 employee-child scholarships annually, each awarding eligible children of PPG employees with $1,500 per year for four years of college study or until undergraduate degree requirements are completed, whichever occurs first. The program is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a non-profit organization that conducts the largest independently financed competition for college undergraduate scholarships in the United States.