ADVISORY/Press Conference to Announce Bay Area Program to Help Low-Income Workers Claim Significant Tax Refunds.

News Editors/Business Editors

ADVISORY...for Monday (Feb. 2)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

New Bay Area Coalition of Public-Private Organizations Expected To

Help Put Millions of Dollars Back in the Pockets of Thousands of

Working Families

When/Where: Monday, February 2, 2004, 10:00 a.m., The Women's Building, 3543 18th Street, San Francisco

What: A press conference to kick off Earn It! Keep It! Save it! programs in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Bay Area is a public/private/nonprofit collaboration promoting the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and providing free tax return preparation and asset building information for working families who earned less than $35,000 in 2003.

Why: The U.S. Government Accounting Office estimates that in the Bay Area, more than $35 million in EITC refunds is unclaimed each year. There are thousands of low-income taxpayers who do not claim the EITC--credits they have earned--and many who pay high fees to private tax preparation services to secure the refunds.

Who: Scheduled to speak at the press conference are:

-- Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco

-- Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ninth District

-- Supervisor John Gioia, Contra Costa Board of

Supervisors, District 1

-- Chet Hewitt, Director, Alameda County Social

Services Agency

-- Trent Rhorer, Director, San Francisco Department

of Human Services

-- Anne Wilson, CEO, United Way of the Bay Area

-- Irene Scandiffio, Area Director, Internal Revenue

Service

-- Wendy Vielman, Recipient of EITC Refunds

Background: United Way of the Bay Area has brought together community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, government agencies and financial institutions to promote the availability of free tax services for low-income taxpayers in three Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco) under the moniker: Earn It! Keep It! Save It!

Earn It! Keep It! Save It! has recruited and trained more than 1,000 volunteers to staff 56 tax preparation sites and expects to complete over 7,000 returns this tax season in multiple languages. The program also offers information and resources to assist taxpayers in building assets and financial stability.

The Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Bay Area coalition is increasing the number of free tax assistance sites from last year and conducting outreach in low-income neighborhoods to make it easier for taxpayers to find and use available services. The coalition is utilizing regional resources to collaborate on public service announcements and materials for community outreach. The three counties share a common Web site: (www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org) and toll-free information number (1-800-358-8832).

Major Partners: United Way of the Bay Area, Annie E. Casey Foundation, City of Hayward, City of Oakland, The Internal Revenue Service, Alameda County Social Services Agency, Urban Strategies Council, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Contra Costa Employment and Human Services Department, Contra Costa County Health Services, First Five Contra Costa, City of Richmond, Tax-Aid, EARN, FDIC, San Francisco Department of Human Services, Federal Reserve Bank, SF Works and KPMG. Funding partners include Annie E. Casey Foundation, City of Hayward, City of Oakland, East Bay Community Foundation, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, Levi Strauss Foundation, Port of Oakland, United Way of the Bay Area and Walter & Elise Haas Fund.