Altria Employees Give $2.4 Million to Local Nonprofits

Source from:  Richmond Times-Dispatch 09/28/2009

In a tough environment for nonprofit fundraising, 90 local organizations recently were awarded grants totaling $2.4 million, thanks to employees of Altria Group Inc. Employees of Henrico County-based Altria, the nation's largest tobacco company, donated the money through the Altria Companies Employee Community Fund. The workplace-giving program, managed by Altria employees, gave grants this year ranging from $5,474 to $50,000 to organizations working in six broad categories: hunger relief, domestic violence, senior services, emergency services, youth services and homelessness. "It is a gargantuan task, and I applaud what they do," said Rick Jeffrey, president of the Special Olympics Virginia Inc., a recipient of $25,000. The money will support the Special Olympics Urban Program, which provides athletic opportunities for 1,000 at-risk, inner-city youth in Richmond. "Fortunately for us, Altria's Employee Community Fund provides a big piece of the funding for this program," Jeffrey said. About 3,000 of the company's employees gave to the fund this year. A committee of 28 employees reviewed the grant requests and selected 90 groups for funding. The grantees were chosen from among 191 proposals, the most requests the fund has ever received. Trenton Williams, co-chairman of the fund's grant-making committee, attributed that to the recession. "This is a tough time with the economy and for companies that usually give the way we do," said Williams, an associate manager of retail programs for Altria. With businesses facing tighter budgets, "the [grantees] focused on a fund that has been quite stable and has been giving out grants year in and year out," he said. The employee-supported fund was started in 2000 and has given 793 grants totaling more than $23 million to nonprofit organizations in central Virginia. Enditem