THANKSGIVING AT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE

Laughing children. Lively conversation. Plates piled high with turkey and trimmings. A typical Thanksgiving, right? Well, yes and no. The laughing children have cancer. They and their families were guests at the Children's Oncology Society of New York's Ronald McDonald House, a place where children with cancer can stay with their families while receiving treatment. Last Thanksgiving Day, NYNEX paid the expenses of the 80 families staying at the House. Volunteers from NYNEX and the Telephone Pioneers of America cooked and served the traditional feast and provided escorts to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. NYNEX also provided tickets for families to attend the Big Apple Circus later that day. For the children and their families, as well as the volunteers, it was a holiday celebration they won't soon forget.

DEPENDENT CARE DEVELOPMENT FUND

The Fund is a valuable resource in helping employees manage the demands of caring for their loved ones. Employees sponsor grant applications from qualified community child-care, elder-care, intergenerational-care and dependent adult-care facilities. As of the end of 1993, the Fund has awarded 183 grants totaling nearly $5.5 million. For example, a grant to the Edna Lillian Roker Adult Day Care Center in White Plains, New York has enabled it to expand services to elderly patients with Alzheimer's Disease. A grant to Lake George After School Care made it possible to renovate a building for its permanent location in that upstate New York town. The center can now increase the number of children served.

CITY YEAR - RHODE ISLAND VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROJECT

From 1986 through 1990, 71 people - 65 students and six school employees - were killed in schools across the country. More than 200 were severely wounded. Another 200 were held hostage at gun point. A 1993 Louis Harris survey revealed that one out of every 40 children, 10 to 19 years old, says they've taken a handgun to school in the past year. Teachers, rightfully scared and impatient for solutions, call for more security guards and metal detectors. But many educators agree that the effectiveness of such measures is limited. Over the long term, only programs that change violent thinking will have a real impact on violent behavior.

In Providence, Rhode Island where violence in the schools has risen dramatically in recent years, a NYNEX-sponsored program is seeking to reverse that trend. City Year RI Violence Prevention Project, a volunteer service program based on the nationally acclaimed City Year-Boston, will expose more than 2,000 students in grades four through 10 to the problem of violent behavior. The program will include mentoring, role modeling, role playing and the promotion of self esteem.

City Year RI will put 17-to-25-year-old "corps members" into the most violent schools. Young "corps members" have proved to make a strong impression on children. They're closer in age to the students than parents and teachers, and some even come from the same at-risk backgrounds as the children they're working with. Volunteers in this one-year program must register to vote, obtain a library card, produce a resume and, if they are not high school graduates, earn a diploma.

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR THE DISABLED

Success isn't easy for any child in America these days, but for kids in the barrio of East Harlem, it's slippery and elusive at best. Poverty, crime, drugs, single-parent families all can put up a barrier on the road to the American Dream. With NYNEX's help, the International Center for the Disabled has established a pilot program at P.S. 146 in East Harlem. The organization brings social services, counseling and medical support right into the school. All in an effort to give the kids of East Harlem, and their families, a chance to grab hold of their hopes and aspirations.

RECORDING FOR THE BLIND

Since is was founded in 1949 to record textbooks for war veterans, Recording for the Blind (RFB) has expanded its services to include a collection of 182,000 books on tape and several thousand more on computer disk. These services are available to those who can't read standard print because of a visual, physical or perceptual disability. Now, with the help of NYNEX Foundation and other corporate sponsors, RFB is using the latest computer technology to enable the sight-impaired to read electronic books as a sighted person would, by moving selectively through the text. Readers can look up facts, skim sections, even browse through a book or magazine, without having to listen to an entire tape.

PROJECT BREAD - WALK FOR HUNGER

Every year, in a very visible sign of caring, hundreds of NYNEX employees in New England take to the streets. In cities and towns from one end of Massachusetts to the other, they walk the thoroughfares and the back streets. And with each mile they cover, they help put food on the plate of someone who's hungry. For the past 25 years, NYNEX employees have participated in Project Bread's "Walk for Hunger." It's a tradition they intend to continue. Project Bread is a nonprofit community organization that works closely with emergency feeding programs throughout Massachusetts. Project Bread funds more than 375 food pantries, soup kitchens, meal sites for the elderly, and feeding programs at shelters for the homeless.

GREATER BOSTON ONE-TO-ONE

Mentors are very special, caring adults who stretch out their hands, hearts and minds to young people. At Greater Boston One-to-One, NYNEX helps mobilize business, education, labor, religious, and community leaders to make mentoring a community strategy in the effort to reverse negative trends affecting young people in the Boston area. One-to-One facilitates partnerships, provides technical assistance and increases public awareness of the need for mentoring and the availability of mentoring opportunities.

NYNEX COMMUNITY TEAM

Whether it was providing new back-to-school clothes for a needy child or a hot meal for a homebound elderly person, the NYNEX Community Team continued to show how much NYNEX employees care. In 1993 the team of employee volunteers contributed more than 13,000 hours of volunteer service in New York's Westchester County, supporting a variety of community programs and organizations. For example, the team collected more than a ton of food to help 132 food pantries and soup kitchens. The team also provided 500 Easter baskets and 250 holiday stockings for children who might otherwise have gone without.

AFFINITY GROUPS

Recognizing and respecting diversity is another NYNEX tradition. Eleven employee support organizations reflect the corporation's diversity and provide a place for employees to examine and understand issues that affect them. The ten organizations are:

• American Indian/Alaskan Native Support Society
• Asian Focus Group
• Association of Management Women
• Disabilities Information Accessibility Link
• Disabilities Support Organization
• Gays and Lesbians for Corporate Diversity
• Granville T. Woods Association
• Hispanic Support Organization
• Minority Management Association
• Telephone Pioneers of America
• Veterans Advisory Board

CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Caring is not only measured by grants and employee service to our communities. A respect for and protection of our environment is also a sign that we care about the people and the communities we serve.

NYNEX has taken a number of environmental initiatives, including the completion of a company-wide Environmental Management Plan. The plan makes employees more aware of ways to protect the environment and themselves while they're on the job. The 600-page document outlines specific steps and work practices that not only help the company comply with environmental laws but also provide guidance for voluntary activities that go beyond mere compliance. Employees participate in a series of training modules which highlight specific environmental and safety issues relating to their work.

Last year NYNEX recycled more than 49 million pounds of equipment and 44 million pounds of office paper. The company also began experimenting with cars and work vans powered by electricity and natural gas.

NYNEX MATCHING GIFT PROGRAM

The NYNEX Matching Gift Program provides an opportunity for all eligible employees and retirees to have their contributions matched to educational, cultural and environmental organizations that meet NYNEX's eligibility criteria. In 1993, a total of $1,760,830 was matched to qualified organizations, a 20 percent increase over the previous year.

NYNEX VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION PROGRAM

The NYNEX Volunteer Recognition Program is committed to recognizing and supporting employees who care by donating their time and efforts to bettering the communities where they live and work. The program pays tribute to employee volunteers by awarding grants to organizations they nominate and to which they volunteer.