CARING FOR COMMUNITIES
At Qwest, our commitment to the communities we serve goes beyond voice, data, wireless and video connections. It spans philanthropic contributions, a pledge to maintain and grow diversity in our industry, a dedication to environmental responsibility and an obligation to ethical conduct in everything we do.
The care we foster for the areas in which we operate includes a 30,000-strong force of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and neighbors who work to improve their communities through educational and technological initiatives. Their involvement has bolstered student success, increased community involvement and encouraged financial investment, and even more can -- and will -- be done.
THE QWEST FOUNDATION
As Qwest’s charitable giving organization, the focus of the Qwest Foundation is pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade education, with the particular goal of ensuring that every student has a chance to succeed in school and beyond. In strengthening this effort, the Qwest Foundation has partnered with community organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Jobs for America’s Graduates and Goodwill Industries, and with school districts across the country.
For more information on the Foundation's giving and activities, please visit qwest.com/community.
VOLUNTEERISM
The giving goes even further when Qwest employees’ volunteer commitments are considered. Qwest employees devote their personal time to fostering animals, tutoring children, and feeding the homeless, among a host of other worthy pursuits.
In total last year, Qwest current and former employees volunteered more than 1 million hours of service to nonprofit organizations.
This brought a value of more than $19 million to these groups.
That's 60 million minutes devoted to improving thousands of communities, one individual at a time.
And it’s one of the ways Qwest employees put people first.
EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Qwest customers who care about education and the environment can get involved with Qwest Foundation activities, too.
Through a program called “1% Back to Schools,” the simple act of paying your Qwest bill helps kids and schools.
- Customers may direct one percent of their Qwest bill to the school district of their choice in one of our 14 residential-service states. Program participants receive their bill online and pay through AutoPay, helping the environment as well as our schools.
- In 2008, the program awarded almost $50,000 to school districts.
- More information on this program is available at qwest.com/onepercent.
The environment is a hot topic these days, and for good reason. To maintain and preserve our way of life, we must understand how our actions today impact our world’s future. So Qwest encourages customers to participate in the Qwest Go Green for Schools program.
- Although 90 percent of Americans report that they would recycle their cell phones if there was an easy way to do so, only 2.3 percent of them actually do.
- Go Green for Schools allows customers to recycle cell phones with Qwest and raise money for public school districts and pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade educational initiatives. Plus, the program keeps unused cell phones out of landfills and reduces green house gas emissions.
- In its first four months, the Go Green for Schools program collected more than 5,000 phones, which were recycled with a zero-percent landfill policy.
- For more information and to donate used cell phones, visit qwest.com/gogreenforschools.
CUSTOMERS AND COMMUNITIES COME FIRST
A century of service brings to Qwest a commitment to our communities and our customers.
And as the years continue, that focus will persist – through customer service, community involvement and volunteerism, a dedication to diversity and a concentration on ethical behavior.
To read more about how Qwest puts customers and communities first, please browse our Annual report to the Community. |
