NEWSRELEASE

COMMUNITY 360° • 2205 SOUTH 10TH STREET, STE 320 • OMAHA, NE 68108 C O N N E C T I N G G E N E R A T I O N S

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

FROM: COMMUNITY 360°

CONTACT(S): Community 360°: eBay Foundation: Paul Falkowski, MA Lauren Moore Executive Director Executive Director paul@community-360.org lamoore@ebay.com (402)556-8032 (408)376-8157

“COMMUNITY 360° RECEIVES EBAY FOUNDATION GRANT” OMAHA, NE AUGUST 15, 2012 – Community 360°, an organization committed to valuing the life and wisdom of the elderly by creating opportunities for people to serve those living and working in nursing homes, announced today that it has been awarded a $2,500 grant from eBay Foundation’s employee-volunteer led GIVE Team. Funds will be used to recruit, screen train and place people to become skilled volunteers in nursing homes.

At this time, Community 360º has over 200 volunteers of its own in 40 facilities throughout Omaha and Council Bluffs. These volunteers provide one-on-one companionship to frail, institutionalized older adults. Community 360º accepts only the finest of volunteers to serve as companions to this vulnerable group. In fact, we look to see if our applicants understand five key concepts before we allow them entrance into our training program. These concepts are: Community – Selflessness – Presence – Compassion – Commitment. If we find individuals who value these concepts we feel as if we have found great potential for people who will make quality volunteers in the long-term care community.

“Currently, many older people living in nursing homes suffer isolation and loneliness,” said Falkowski, Executive Director, “In fact, research shows less than half of all nursing home residents actually gets visits from anyone. As a result, this isolation leads to behavior problems and increased morbidity rates, which in turn leads to over-medication and increased staff burden. Community 360° volunteers hit the ground running becoming a part of the care team to provide a listening ear, a holding hand, a gentle touch, and an encouraging word.” The care facility outreach program is made possible in part through eBay Foundation’s GIVE Team program, which empowers employees to support their communities through volunteerism and employee-sponsored grants. In 2011 alone, GIVE Teams worldwide selected 160 nonprofits to receive eBay Foundation grants totaling more than $625,000. “eBay Foundation was established to reach beyond the boundaries of eBay’s virtual village to develop strong communities that bring people together,” said Lauren Moore, Executive Director of eBay Foundation. “Through our GIVE Teams, eBay Foundation has had the great fortune of feeding families in the San Francisco Bay Area, helping foster children in India, seniors in Germany, mentoring at-risk youth in Omaha, and homeless in Austin – to name only a few. We couldn’t be happier to add to our list of beneficiaries by supporting Community 360° in its efforts to long-term care community by providing trained volunteers. ABOUT COMMUNITY 360° Community 360° works to address and educate the public about the ravaging effects of social isolation and loneliness through speaking engagements, various print media and the worldwide web. Persons expressing a desire to become a Community 360° volunteer must complete a series of screening projects to test their level of commitment. Successful volunteer candidates are invited to attend and complete a training certification program. This 16-hour training program prepares the potential volunteer by giving them the trends of aging, theory of aging, knowledge of privacy laws (HIPAA), communication techniques with older adults and the cognitively impaired, levels of care and working in harmony with professional care staff. Visit the Community 360° website: www.community-360.org for more information. ABOUT EBAY FOUNDATION eBay Foundation was established by eBay, Inc. in 1998 and, reflecting eBay innovation, was the first corporate foundation to be endowed with pre-IPO inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $23 million to nonprofit organizations worldwide. The Foundation engages eBay Inc. employees and supports their pursuit of charitable giving and volunteerism through its GIVE Team program. In addition, using a unique combination of foundation funding, employee volunteerism and other resources, eBay Foundation has created The Opportunity Project to extend the company’s commitment to global citizenship. By scaling social innovations that create economic opportunity, The Opportunity Project gives people in need the chance to participate in the global economy, provide for their families, and build stronger communities. For more information: www.theopportunityproject.org.

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