600 Cleveland GE Employees Team Up On September 26 For Greater Cleveland's Largest Day of Caring Benefiting United Way Services.

Business Editors

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2002

For the Fourth Straight Year,

GE Will Contribute Approximately 5,000 Volunteer Hours in One Day!

Approximately 600 local General Electric (GE) employees and retirees, many of them from GE Lighting, will contribute more than 5,000 volunteer hours in a single day to make over the 350-acre Girl Scouts of Lake Erie Council (GSLEC) Camp Julia Crowell/Hilaka, located at 4374 Broadview Road in Richfield, OH.

On September 26, bearing maps, tools and even some heavy equipment, 55 teams of scientists, salespeople, lighting designers, accountants and more, will swarm the camp to paint, stain, repair, rebuild and beautify the property. Work will include landscaping, laying gravel and top soil, installing block foundations, weed-whacking and brush removal and building fire pits, foot bridges, stairs and railings, wheelchair ramps and storage sheds.

"With our small team and resources, we never would have been able to complete all of these projects on our own," explains Cheryl Goggans, Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts of Lake Erie Council. "The fact that GE will do all these things in one day is truly amazing. Girl Scouts from Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake Counties will reap the benefits of their generous work for years to come."

The camp serves 16,800 Girl Scout members in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga Counties. On the grounds are cabins, houses, platform tent sites, primitive tent sites and an Adirondak shelter campsite. In addition to this Day of Caring, United Way Services provides $118,750 to the GSLEC for youth development.

"This is by far the most exciting volunteer project I have had the opportunity to take part in," says Jack Fish, Chief Operating Officer of Lighting and Area Executive in Cleveland for GE Consumer Products. "It is extremely rewarding to make such an impact for those who need it. It is also a reminder of the great people I work with, and the role GE plays in making our communities better everyday."

In the last three years, through Days of Caring, GE has:

-- Donated over 15,000 hours (in three days!)

-- Renovated and landscaped 21 homes, 6 apartments, a day care center, and a senior center for the University Settlement

-- Prepared dinner for 300 people and baked 500 apple pies for future meals at the Settlement's meal program

-- Refurbished Camp Mueller, allowing them to quadruple attendance

"We are truly grateful for this partnership with GE," said K. Michael Benz, President and CEO of United Way Services. "Whatever GE does, it does in a big way. It helps us help our community in so many ways by significantly supporting our campaign so that we can provide a safety net of services through our nearly 130 partner agencies, including the GSLEC, as well as work with the Community Vision Council to make long-term improvements in Greater Cleveland for all citizens. The huge annual GE Day of Caring especially makes a difference in physical buildings and grounds of a partner agency, allowing the agency to focus financial resources on needed programs. Greater Cleveland and United Way are truly fortunate to have General Electric as a caring community partner."

GE Lighting -- a division of GE Consumer Products -- is a leader in lamp technology and manufacturing and marketing in the global lighting industry with significant operations in Cleveland and throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Today, the business manufactures approximately 7,000 various lamp products for commercial, industrial and consumer markets.

Girl Scouts of Lake Erie Council is a nonprofit agency providing programs to 16,800 girls and women in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga Counties. It provides value-based programming for girls to help them become confident, resourceful, responsible young women.