SAS Makes Season Bright for Kids Ages 1 to 92; Employees Sponsor Hundreds of Salvation Army Christmas Angels and Senior Citizens

Business Wire, Dec 8, 2005

CARY, N.C. -- SAS, the leader in business intelligence, is continuing its annual tradition of supporting two very different population groups during the holiday season. The company maintained its reputation as the largest Triangle supporter of the Salvation Army's Christmas Angel program this year by sponsoring more than 600 area children. In addition, 250 elderly residents from Wake County will have a brighter holiday thanks to the SAS Elder Elves Program.

"These holiday programs focus on responding to the specific needs of children and elderly citizens in the communities where SAS employees live and work," said Chris Pope, corporate citizenship manager. "Each year at this time, employees step up to extend their holiday spirit and giving to provide basic items such as new coats and warm clothing."

SAS and the Christmas Angels: A national effort enabled by technology

2005 marks the 11th year SAS has supported the Angel Tree program, which enables individuals, churches and other organizations to anonymously sponsor a child or family in need. In addition to the 600 Triangle children sponsored by Cary employees, the more than 1,100 SAS employees outside North Carolina, located in more than 200 offices in the United States, were able to contribute to their local Salvation Army through an online, payroll deduction system. The amount contributed will be automatically deducted from the employee's paycheck, and SAS will send a check to local Salvation Army offices once the donation period has ended.

The complex collection effort is facilitated by a technological application developed by SAS' Information Systems Division (ISD). In 2000, ISD made it easy for employees to sign up for the Angels program by creating a Web site that listed the recipients. The application, powered by SAS' own software, made it possible for SAS employees to choose Angels, including numerous sibling groups, online. Capabilities added last year enabled the regional employees to more easily join in the effort.

Collection of SAS Angel Tree gifts for local children occurs today at SAS headquarters in Cary, and Maj. Al Smith of the Salvation Army will be on hand to thank the employees personally.

"Three thousand children in the Triangle will enjoy a brighter Christmas this year because of the Angel Tree program," said Smith. "Thanks to generous supporters across the community like SAS and its employees, hundreds of Wake County children will have gifts to open on Christmas morning who otherwise would go without."

All American Relocation Inc. donated a truck for storage and will deliver the SAS Triangle holiday gifts to the Salvation Army on Dec. 9. SAS employees will be donating time and effort on that day as they help unload the gifts. The Salvation Army will distribute the holiday items to families throughout the Triangle Dec. 19-20.

The SAS Elder Elves program: Bigger than ever

The SAS Elder Elves program allows employees to sponsor elderly and handicapped residents of four local senior housing communities. Now in its eighth year, the 250 people in 2005 is the most residents ever sponsored through the homegrown program.

On Friday, Dec. 16, SAS volunteers will go to each of the four locations to deliver the gifts to residents' homes, and to throw a party for them complete with food, games and music. Jan Payne, work/life coordinator and eldercare specialist for SAS, finds great reward in helping a population with different needs during the holidays.

"The residents of the senior housing communities don't typically ask for things they want, they ask for things they need," said Payne. "From toiletries to bed sheets to clothing, they request gifts that will help them live their day-to-day lives, and our employees have shown great willingness to meet those needs. Of course, some residents do request more 'fun' items, and our employees are also happy to get those!"

About The Salvation Army

One of the largest charitable and service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been helping those in need since 1865. The Salvation Army provides food for the hungry, companionship to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless, opportunities for underprivileged children, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled and many more services to assist those in need.

About SAS

SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at 40,000 sites - including 96 of the top 100 companies on the FORTUNE Global 500(R) - to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For nearly three decades, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know (R).