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ENRON TO DELIVER HOLIDAY GIFT PACKAGES TO HELMS SCHOOL STUDENTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, December 18, 1997
HOUSTON - The holidays will arrive early for nearly 400 children from Helms Community Learning Center. Each youngster will receive a specially created gift bag December 18 in recognition of their school's overall scholastic achievements.
In a unique twist on the traditional Adopt-A-Child concept, Enron adopts an entire school for recognition based on the school's overall academic progress. This is the 12th year that Enron has "adopted" a Houston-area school through its Enron Envolved community program. Helms Community Learning Center (renamed from Helms Elementary last year to reflect the school's dynamic education role in its neighboring community) received an "exemplary" rating from the Houston Independent School District for progress in areas such as 3rd grade reading scores, 4th grade math scores and 4th grade writing scores.
"All the kids know they're getting new uniforms, but I don't think they know about anything else," said Helms Principal Raul Hinojosa. "Nothing like this has ever happened to Helms before, and the parents, students and teachers are just ecstatic to have Enron's support."
With a parent's or guardian's permission, each student will receive a school uniform, a set of leisure clothes, tennis shoes, a light jacket, a toy and a book from a book list provided by the school to fit in with its curriculum. The school uniforms are purchased for the youngsters by members of Enron's senior management team. The remaining items are purchased by individual employees, or employees who have joined together for the campaign. It is estimated that each volunteer or volunteer group will spend about $100 on each child, working from information about each youngster provided by the school.
Enron employees will also donate five computers and software for an accelerated reading program that can be used by the entire Helms school.
"Enron's Adopt-A-Child program is definitely unique," said Kenneth L. Lay, Chairman and CEO of Enron. "First we focus our efforts on rewarding students and schools for progress, and second, we don't just reward a few children, Enron and its employees adopt the entire school."
"Our employees and management members love to be involved in the community during the holidays … especially when it involves helping kids," said Cindy Glenn, a senior specialist for Enron Energy Services Information Systems Training department, who chairs the annual event for Enron. "This year we had so many volunteers and contributions, we'll also be donating a toy and book to every student at Brock Elementary on Houston Avenue as well."
Gifts will be delivered to Helms on Thursday, Dec. 18. Children will open their gifts following their lunch period, which begins at 10:30 a.m. and continues through 1 p.m. Parents and younger children are often on hand during the festivities.
Enron Corp., one of the world's largest integrated natural gas and electricity companies with approximately $23 billion in assets, operates one of the largest natural gas transmission systems in the world; is the largest marketer of natural gas and electricity in North America; is a leading participant in liberalized energy markets in the United Kingdom and the Nordic Countries; markets natural gas liquids worldwide; manages the largest portfolio of fixed-price natural gas risk management contracts in the world; is among the leading entities arranging new capital to the energy industry; owns a majority interest in Enron Oil & Gas Company, one of the largest independent (non-integrated) exploration and production companies in the United States; owns and manages operating power plants and natural gas pipelines around the world; is one of the largest independent developers and producers of electricity in the world; and is a major supplier of solar and wind energy worldwide. Enron's internet address is www.enron.com and its common stock is traded under the ticker symbol, "ENE."
For additional information please contact:
Patrick Stupek
(713) 853-6359
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