A Good Neighbor – Although KeySpan’s service territory was largely spared the wrath of Hurricane Floyd, our neighbors in New Jersey were not as fortunate. As part of a real brotherhood among utility companies, KeySpan sent two caravans of utility vans to help restore gas service in the flood disaster areas of New Jersey last September. Crews worked 12-hour shifts for more than a week to restore service to Public Service Electric & Gas customers in need.


Taking It To The Beach – Rick Shalvoy’s annual “Row for a Cure” around Long Island in August is just one of many fundraising efforts that highlight KeySpan’s commitment to community involvement. The company contributed both financing and employee support to the row, which raised more than $53,000 for the Carol A. Baldwin Foundation Research Fund for breast cancer research.


Making A Name For Our-selves – Supporting community events does more than just make KeySpan feel good. It is a valuable tool in creating brand awareness and building our corporate reputation. Being actively involved in the events and causes that mean the most to our customers helps KeySpan to generate good will that can provide support to the company in difficult times. It also allows us to remain connected to our customers, learning what is important to them and helping us to better serve both individual and community needs. The bottom line - community involvement helps business while it helps people.


Just Like Cinderella – The Northport Theater was a beauty in the 1930s – an Art-Deco vaudeville theater that attracted audiences from across Long Island. Unfortunately, in the 90s, the theater was closed and in disrepair. KeySpan provided a Cinderella grant to the theater’s new owners, allowing them to do a complete makeover. The theater now boasts six magnificent frescoes, restored plaster moldings, dozens of loveseats and more.

More Than Just Money
The KeySpan Foundation sees itself as more than a funding source – it is a partner, with potential to connect to many remarkable groups. It is built on the idea that funding, added to KeySpan involvement, equals community participation and development. Most of the Foundation’s grants are concentrated in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Nassau and Suffolk counties, the primary areas that KeySpan serves. To achieve the greatest reach into the many, distinct communities of these regions, the Foundation focused its first-year giving in five key areas: environmental preservation, community development, health and human services, education, and the arts. For 2000, the Foundation board is considering narrowing the focus further, to make a greater difference in areas that the community feels most strongly about.
    The KeySpan Foundation is an outgrowth of our current corporate giving program, which continues to support more than 2,000 not-for-profit organizations across the New York metropolitan area.


Employees Making A Difference
Community involvement at KeySpan goes well beyond grants and corporate giving. Employees throughout the company are involved in a multitude of charitable programs, with the enthusiastic backing of senior management. In 1999, employees made a big difference in our communities through their support of two well-known programs – the United Way and the New York and Long Island Blood Services.
    The United Way effort was truly impressive, with employees once again digging deep into their pockets to make KeySpan the number one contributor in the New York metropolitan area. With a Foundation “matching" gift of $300,000 added to employees’ generous pledges of $812,000, KeySpan’s total contribution to the United Way was $1,112,000. For the 2000 campaign, employees have challenged each other to take an extra step and raise “More Than a Million for the New Millennium."
    Employees also overwhelmingly gave the gift of life last year, providing a needed boost to the New York and Long Island Blood Services. Heeding call after call to donate, they exceeded the blood drive campaign goal of 3,000 pints of blood by 33 percent. In all, employees donated more than 4,100 pints – enough blood to save16,400 lives and make KeySpan one of five national Platinum Award winners by America’s Blood Centers.
    KeySpan employees have always generously volunteered their time to a wide variety of causes. From hospice to hunger to helping children at risk, where there’s a need, KeySpan is there. Last August, The Points of Light Foundation awarded its Daily Points of Light Award to 45 such dedicated employees, for their work with the “Meals on Heels" program in Brooklyn Heights. The award, given in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus and the Corporation for National Service, honors individuals and organizations that have made a commitment to help meet critical needs in their communities.


Revitalizing Our Neighborhoods
For more than three decades, KeySpan’s Brooklyn Union subsidiary has worked to rehabilitate housing in its service area. Its Cinderella program, started in 1966, helped inspire the brownstone-revival movement. Since then, the program has contributed to the rehabilitation of hundreds of buildings and storefronts, and helped revive a number of declining neighborhoods.
    In 1999, the Cinderella program moved East, with its first Long Island-based project – the restoration of the Northport Theater, a former 1930s vaudeville playhouse that had fallen into disrepair. With the help of a $15,000 Cinderella grant to transform the storefront and the owners’ investment to restore the interior to its original motif, the theater is once again drawing people to Northport’s downtown area. The Cinderella program has also funded the revitalization of downtown Glen Cove and the lighting of Freeport’s famed “Nautical Mile."
    KeySpan draws its success from the people and communities we serve. As the energy world evolves, we believe more than ever in our promise to remain connected.