NVTCF > In the News

HERNDON, Va., June 18, 2002 - The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Foundation, in conjunction with the law firm Morgan Lewis, has announced the funding of a part-time information technology position at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid Atlantic, Inc. (MAWFMA), a non-profit organization that fulfills the wishes of children facing life-threatening illnesses. The new position will provide technical support to children served by the foundation and will assist volunteers who provide such technical support.

"Morgan Lewis is very excited to work with NVTC to help meet the needs of an organization like the Make-A-Wish Foundation," says Gregory S. Lewis, a partner in the Northern Virginia office of Morgan Lewis, and one of the facilitators of the project. "Our firm is closely attuned to the technology community, and through this project we are able to meet a critical technology need."

In 2001, the NVTC Foundation announced a partnership with Make-A-Wish to fulfill the wishes of children facing life-threatening illnesses who request computers, and to provide needed technical support. Shortly after the announcement, Morgan Lewis, one of the ten largest U.S. law firms, began working closely with both the NVTC Foundation and MAWFMA to develop a concept for a staff position to coordinate and supervise the technical support. The firm and four individual partners in its new Northern Virginia office – Gregory S. Lewis, Dean Wayne Rutley, Frank G. Zarb, Jr. and Robert J. Smith – combined to make a gift of $20,000 to the NVTC Foundation, which will in turn be directed to MAWFMA to fund the new position.

"This is the largest contribution we have ever received from one of our local technology partners, and we are pleased that the contribution will make such a difference to children in the area," says Tim Nurvala at the NVTC Foundation. "We hope that this will encourage others within the community to support technology needs of organizations in our community."

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has fulfilled wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses since 1980. It is the largest wish-fulfilling organization in the world, with 79 chapters in the U.S. and 22 international affiliates on five continents. Founded in 1983, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic (MAWFMA) has fulfilled the wishes of more than 3,500 children from Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Delaware.

The NVTC Foundation and Morgan Lewis have truly made an impact with this significant gift. This grant will allow us to expand our capabilities and better serve children in our program who ask for nothing more but to have their very own computer,î says Ralph Nappi, president and CEO of MAWFMA.

-----

About the NVTC Foundation
The NVTC Foundation was founded to encourage and facilitate corporate efforts to give something back to the community and specifically looks for community initiatives based in Northern Virginia that include technology as an important component in their mission. It is a charitable 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. The NVTC Foundation is affiliated with the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a membership organization of more than 1,300 companies representing nearly 170,000 people involved in the technology industry in the Northern Virginia region. More information about the programs that it supports can be found on its Web site at www.nvtc.org/foundation.

About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Lewis, with a team of over 1,100 lawyers in 13 offices worldwide, is a fully integrated, multipractice law firm that serves global clients. For more than a century, Morgan Lewis has represented Fortune 500 companies, multinational financial services and investment banking organizations, as well as leaders in the life sciences, technology, energy, securities and media sectors. For more information about Morgan Lewis, visit www.morganlewis.com.