Giving Back in New York

More than 2,400 nonprofit groups in New York received more than $13.5 million from the Verizon Foundation in 2008, enabling recipient organizations to improve literacy skills, enhance educational opportunities for children, and help domestic violence survivors rebuild their lives.

In addition, Verizon employees volunteered more than 101,500 hours to nonprofit groups throughout the state in 2008.

Read the press release

Advancing Education in New York

Verizon supports programs affiliated with Thinkfinity, the Verizon Foundation¿s signature educational initiative.  The program provides free online educational resources to teachers, students and community organizations through Thinkfinity.org , Verizon's comprehensive online portal to 50,000 standards-based, K-12 lesson plans and other educational resources.

The New York State Teacher Centers and the New York Institute of Technology are responsible for the rollout of Thinkfinity in New York state. The goals of ThinkfinityNY include communicating information about Thinkfinity, arranging trainings, tracking quality and progress against goals, and aligning Thinkfinity content with New York State Learning Standards. To date, over 22,000 NYS teachers have been trained in the use of the Thinkfinity resources and 3,000+ lessons and resources have been aligned to New York State Learning Standards.

2008 Grants Highlights

Recipients of key grants in New York included: 

New York Women's Foundation - domestic violence prevention programs in underserved communities throughout New York City.
(Learn more about the organization)

The Child Center of New York - computer-based reading and ESL (English as second language) programs and one-on-one academic tutoring for underperforming children who are recent immigrants, learning disabled or victims of domestic violence.
(Learn more about the organization)

Junior Achievement of Western New York - financial- literacy training and job shadow programs for at-risk Buffalo public school students.
(Learn more about the organization)

Greenhope Services for Women - a domestic violence education and prevention program designed for women on parole, women who have been referred by the courts to the agency as an alternative to incarceration, and women from the community (East Harlem) who require substance-abuse services.
(Learn more about the organization)

Literacy Volunteers of America - Westchester County Affiliate - the Summer 2008 Hispanic Family Literacy Program in coordination with two Westchester County libraries. The bilingual workshops provide literacy, health care and community resource information to the county's growing and economically disadvantaged immigrant Hispanic population, especially in Port Chester and Ossining.
(Learn more about the organization)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - Utica Chapter - ongoing NAACP Chapter programs, including literacy programs, domestic violence prevention and scholarships.
(Learn more about the organization)

Municipal Art Society - CITI Youth program that places minority students as interns on community boards to learn about planning, mapping and government/community programs.
(Learn more about the organization)

YMCA of Greater New York - after-school literacy program for pre-school and grade-level students, focused on reading, writing and communications skills for children from non-English-speaking families.
(Learn more about the organization)