ExxonMobil Green Team Celebrates Opening of Two New Homes in Oak Cliff

Business Wire, August 20, 2002

Business Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 20, 2002

Youth program completes 21st year in Dallas

with ribbon-cutting and key presentation

The City of Dallas and ExxonMobil celebrated the end of the 21st year of the ExxonMobil Green Team on Tuesday, August 20, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and key presentation for two new homes built by the ExxonMobil Green Team in far south Oak Cliff.

The event recognized the 100 area high school students who spent their summer constructing homes, maintaining and landscaping Dallas parks and recreation areas, and participating in academic classes and educational field trips. The new homeowners were presented with keys to the new homes built by the ExxonMobil Green Team.

Since 1981, ExxonMobil Foundation has invested more than $4.9 million in the Dallas Green Team program, serving more than 2,700 Dallas students and resulting in the construction of 19 homes and numerous park improvements. The ExxonMobil Foundation provided a grant of $200,000 to the City of Dallas to fund the 2002 Green Team program.

"The ExxonMobil Green Team program is a great opportunity for area teenagers to gain meaningful work experience along with academic skills," said Arleen Lawson, executive director of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "By providing an academic component, the Green Team emphasizes the importance of higher education, and students learn skills they can use when they return to school in the fall and throughout their lives. ExxonMobil is proud to have supported this program over the past 21 years."

This summer, 100 Dallas high school students participated in the 2002 Green Team program. Thirty-two of those students worked with the Operation Relief Community Development Corporation and North Lake College's Construction Technology Program to build two affordable homes on Flask Drive in far south Oak Cliff. In addition, 68 students worked with the City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department to provide landscaping and maintenance to parks and athletic fields throughout Dallas. Students earned a salary for their time spent working and participating in educational activities.

Several community partners were involved in the 2002 ExxonMobil Green Team Program, included the City of Dallas Housing Department, the City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department, El Centro College, North Lake College, Operation Relief Community Development Corporation, Bethel Construction, Guaranty Bank and Acme Brick.

"We salute ExxonMobil for their valued contribution to the City of Dallas," said Jerry Killingsworth, director of the City of Dallas Housing Department. "For over two decades, the Green Team program has improved the appearance of parks and athletic fields throughout Dallas, 19 Dallas families have been provided with new homes, and more than 2,700 students have received important academic experience along with a summer job."

In addition to Dallas, the ExxonMobil Green Team is active in the following cities: Beaumont, Texas; Torrance, California; Joliet, Illinois; Chalmette, Louisiana; Clinton, New Jersey; Paulsboro, New Jersey and Arlington, Virginia.

The ExxonMobil Green Team program is one of ExxonMobil's signature community service programs. Last year, ExxonMobil supported more than 200 nonprofit organizations in the Dallas area. In 2001, ExxonMobil Foundation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and its divisions and affiliates provided $126 million in contributions worldwide, with $38 million dedicated to education.