WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Dec. 16, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Employee volunteers of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will deliver food and gifts to 52 needy families in the San Fernando Valley during December.
A photo accompanying this news release is available at: http://media.primezone.com/noc/
"'Adopt-A-Family' events and contributions will allow us to reach out to 52 needy families, five more than last year," said Kathy Fodor, chairman of the Adopt-A-Family committee at Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division. "The employees donate throughout the year, and the return we receive is the heartwarming smile on children's faces when we deliver our gifts. Over 120 children in the recipient families will benefit when Adopt-A-Family gifts are distributed."
Northrop Grumman employee volunteers wearing Santa suits deliver over $300 in gifts to each needy family. Recipients are selected by El Centro de Amistad, Inc., a non-profit, social services/United Way agency in Canoga Park, Calif., that supports the needs of low-income residents of the San Fernando Valley.
"Contributions come in 25 or 50 cents at a time when employees buy an item at an Adopt-A-Family sponsored event," Fodor added. "Employees contribute holiday gifts, make cookies and cakes for bake sales, volunteer for fund-raising activities and help with holiday gift shopping and delivery. They also donate the proceeds from their own fundraising activities or give cash donations to Adopt-A-Family."
The highlight of Adopt-A-Family activities is the gift-distribution night. The food and gifts are gathered by the volunteers, loaded into their vehicles and driven to the homes of each recipient. Santa and his helpers pass the presents out at each home they visit.
Adopt-A-Family was started in 1990 by a member of the Northrop Grumman Employees' Recreation Club. The club selected four needy families, and employees contributed money to purchase gifts, toys and food and made the deliveries to the families. More than 500 families have been helped by Adopt-A-Family since its inception.
In addition to delivering gifts, Adopt-A-Family volunteers gathered toiletries for the homeless and sponsored a coupon clipping drive that collected $40,000 worth of coupons for soldiers' families living on military bases.
Headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., Northrop Grumman's Navigation System Division - part of the company's Electronic Systems sector - supplies situational awareness products for international and domestic defense and commercial markets and offers integrated avionics, navigation and positioning systems and sensors for space and high-value platform products, navigation-grade and tactical-grade inertial systems, fiber-optic gyro systems designed to customer requirements, underwater fiber-optic sensors, identification, friend or foe transponders and interrogators, cockpit displays and computers, and logistic support products and services.
