GTE Boosts Literacy with
Fundraising Check-Off Box on Monthly Bills
GTE Corporation launched its “Check Into Literacy” fundraising campaign October 27 at a press conference in Washington. The company announced that it has created a new public charity called GTE Reads to handle the campaign, which will involve adding a check-off box to the monthly bills of GTE’s 16-million customers nationwide. By checking the box, customers can donate $1 per month to support local literacy efforts.
The program starts November 1 for most of GTE’s telephone customers in 29 states; the check-off will be available to wireless and long-distance customers in all 50 states early next year. Starting December 1, anyone will be able to make a donation electronically by clicking on GTE’s SuperPages.com Web site.
Texas-based GTE expects to raise $13 million in the first full year of the program and will match the first $1 million raised. Funds will be distributed to the local communities from which they were collected via qualified local and national literacy programs.
