Sprint Continues to Support New York City Community with More than $55,000 in Grants to Local Non-Profits

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Sprint (NYSE: S) recently announced the New York City recipients of the 2011 Sprint Local Grant Program and the 2011 Sprint Community Champions program. In total, four area non-profit organizations are being awarded grants as part of these signature community-support programs. The Sprint Local Grant Program annually awards two $25,000 Sprint Foundation grants to New York City-area non-profits that support Sprint’s focus area of youth development. The Sprint Community Champions Program annually recognizes two outstanding New York City-area residents who have made a positive impact on the community with Sprint Foundation grants to qualified non-profit organizations of the honorees’ choice. Grants were presented and Community Champions honored at a local reception last night.

The 2011 grant recipients and Community Champion honorees for New York City are as follows:

• Queens Library Foundation was selected as a 2011 Sprint Local Grant Program recipient and will receive a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant to support Queens Library’s BOOST (Best Out of School Time) Program. BOOST is the largest and most geographically distributed after-school program in Queens. Through BOOST, more than 2,000 children ages six to 14 participate in engaging enrichment activities focused on math and science and have access to electronic resources, literacy opportunities and homework help provided by well-trained staff.
• VH1 Save The Music Foundation was selected as a 2011 Sprint Local Grant Program recipient and will receive a $25,000 Sprint Foundation grant to purchase new musical instruments for a New York City public school, providing access to the benefits of music study for more than 500 students in need. VH1 Save The Music Foundation ensures that schools have a certified music teacher on staff and that music classes are conducted as part of the regular school day.
• New York resident Robyn Young was selected as the 2011 Sprint Adult Community Champion, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to her selected charitable organization, The Relief Boutique, an all-volunteer non-profit organization formed to help economically disadvantaged women succeed in their employment. Young is the founder and current volunteer executive director of The Relief Boutique. She has dedicated much of her time and effort into building an organization that provides assistance and care for area women in need through creative, legal, styling and professional-development assistance.
• Yonkers resident Jean Patrick Muniz was selected as the 2011 Sprint Youth Community Champion, and the Sprint Foundation awarded a $2,500 grant to his selected charitable organization, Yonkers Partners in Education. As a member of Riverside Engineering & Design High School’s Envirobotics team, Muniz organized a student crew to build and establish a robotic workshop through creative actions like bake and snack sales, traveling to elementary schools, and mentoring his peers. His hard work and determination ultimately led the team to the world robotics championships in Atlanta.

Sprint is a long-time supporter of the New York City community, and this is the third year Sprint has conducted the Sprint Local Giving Program and the Sprint Community Champions Program in the market. In total, these programs have provided more than $172,500 in support to local non-profits, including Museum of the City of New York, Theatre for a New Audience, Tuesday’s Children and YMCA of Greater New York. To learn more about either program, please visit www.sprint.com/localgiving.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 53 million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index showed Sprint is the #1 most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all industries, over the last three years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About the Sprint Foundation

Since its establishment in 1989, the Sprint Foundation has supported community organizations across the country with a special emphasis on K-12 education, positive youth development, arts and culture outreach, and Internet safety. Through direct grants and a robust matching-gifts program for employees and retirees, the Sprint Foundation creatively and thoughtfully delivers Sprint’s commitment to championing the communities where Sprint customers and employees live.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50109062&lang=en