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AT&T Donates $10,000 to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
AT&T Donates $10,000 to the National Disaster Search Dog
Foundation
Recognizing the 'Human' Side of Disaster Recovery.
LONG BEACH, Calif., June 14 (PRNewswire) -- AT&T today announced
a $10,000 grant to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
(NDSDF) to help support training for search and rescue dogs
to recover people lost or trapped due to a disaster.
The grant is being made in conjunction with a two-day AT&T
Network Disaster Recovery exercise that begins today in Long
Beach. The exercise is designed to test and evaluate how well
the company responds to a simulated disaster that "destroys"
critical Southern California communications infrastructure.
"We are committed to supporting disaster response efforts
and pleased to recognize the National Disaster Search Dog
Foundation and the critical role they play," said Judi Hand,
AT&T President of Enterprise Sales. "While AT&T focuses on
restoring networking technologies that are critical to emergency
communications and business continuity, NDSDF focuses on finding
and rescuing people -- which is the absolute highest priority
for any community after a catastrophic event. It's a very
complementary partnership."
"AT&T's donation will help us provide additional canine search
teams to the State of California, which currently has 38 SDF
teams," said Wilma Melville, Founder and Director of NDSDF.
"With an increased number of teams available for deployment,
California will be better prepared for a quick response to
earthquakes and other natural or manmade disasters."
The grant will be presented to two search and rescue teams
based in Southern California: Debra Tosch, NDSDF Program Director/Trainer,
with partner Abby; and Ron Weckbacher, NDSDF Board Member/Handler
with partner Manny. Both teams were deployed in the aftermath
of 9/11, and are considered to be among the top search and
rescue teams in the nation. The formal presentation will take
place tomorrow at an AT&T Networking Leaders' Forum at the
Hyatt Regency in Long Beach.
AT&T maintains the industry's only mobile, full-readiness
network disaster recovery team consisting of more than 100
managers, engineers and technicians, as well as a fleet of
more than 150 self-contained equipment-trailers and support
vehicles. For more information, visit the AT&T NDR online
press kit at: http://www.att.com/presskit/ndr
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for
unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed
by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs,
the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet
and transaction-based voice and data services.
About the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF)
The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a nonprofit
organization whose mission is to prepare rescue dogs and partner
them with firefighters to become the most highly trained canine
search teams in the nation. The Foundation is responsible
for training over 40% of all of the nation's Advanced FEMA
canine search teams and 80% of the State of California's.
Website: http://www.SearchDogsUSA.org
or call 1-888-4K9-HERO.
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