TEP Grants $100,000 to Groups Aiding At-Risk Youth, Families and Seniors

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) will present $100,000 in grants to 14 nonprofit organizations that improve the health and well-being of at-risk children, teens, families and seniors.

TEP''s Grants That Make a Difference will be presented during an awards ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m. at the UniSource Energy Tower, 1 S. Church Ave.

The Grants That Make a Difference program offers financial assistance to nonprofit agencies that have demonstrated their ability to improve the lives of others. The program encourages agencies to collaborate in an effort to make the most of limited resources while offering measurable and reasonable expectations for their services. These organizations offer enhanced services for at-risk youth, seniors and families in need while demonstrating the financial stability to sustain their programs.

"We are very pleased and honored to offer this support to the organizations that improve our community''s health and well-being,” said Paul J. Bonavia, Chairman, President and CEO of TEP and its parent company, UniSource Energy Corporation (NYSE: UNS). "TEP and its employees are committed to serving the community. In these challenging economic times, we hope the Grants That Make a Difference will help make a positive difference in the lives of others.”

The 2009 grants include:

• $5,000 to Arizona''s Children Association''s KARE Family Center, which provides counseling and support services for grandparents and relatives providing foster care for minor children.
• $5,000 to the Assistance League of Tucson''s Operation School Bell program, which provides clothes and shoes to impoverished elementary school children.
• $2,500 to Aviva Children''s Services to subsidize supervised visits between children in foster care and their parents.
• $10,000 to Casa de Esperanza, which provides adult day care to low-income seniors in southern Pima County.
• $10,000 to Casa de los Niños to enhance its Crisis Shelter, which provides services for abused and neglected children.
• $15,000 to the Educational Enrichment Foundation (EEF). A $10,000 grant will help fund the group''s Focus on Vision program, which provides eye exams and eyeglasses to children in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). A $5,000 grant will fund EEF scholarships to help low-income students pay participation fees for TUSD extracurricular activities.
• $5,000 to the El Rio Foundation''s Teenage Parent Program in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
• $10,000 to the Literacy Volunteers of Tucson for expansion of its volunteer tutor and computer lab literacy programs.
• $5,000 to Open Inn''s Center of Juvenile Alternatives to enhance services for homeless teens.
• $5,000 to Our Family''s Teens in Transition program, which provides temporary housing and case management for homeless teens.
• $7,500 to the Salvation Army Amphi Corp''s GED and Educational Program, which promotes literacy and job readiness.
• $2,500 to the Tucson Children''s Museum for a pilot program that will provide museum passes to Child Protective Services (CPS) for families having supervised visits.
• $10,000 to the Tucson Symphony Society''s nationally acclaimed Music in the Schools Program.
• $7,500 to Youth on Their Own, providing matching funds for a federal program that will help the agency expand high school and homelessness prevention programs.

Grant recipients were chosen by TEP employee volunteers who evaluated the merits of competing proposals.

Grants That Make a Difference is part of TEP''s award-winning community service program, which provides philanthropic gifts, in-kind services and the donated hours of employee volunteers to nonprofit organizations. Last year, employees of TEP and its sister companies, UniSource Energy Services and Southwest Energy Solutions, joined their friends and family to contribute more than 42,300 volunteer hours to worthy causes across Arizona.

Tucson Electric Power provides safe, reliable electric service to more than 400,000 customers in southern Arizona. For more information, visit tep.com. For more information about its parent company, UniSource Energy, visit uns.com.

"Grants That Make a Difference” Presentation

When: Thursday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m.

Where: UniSource Energy Tower, 1 S. Church Ave.

Directions: Enter the building''s underground parking garage from Broadway (and bring your parking ticket with you to have it validated). Take the garage elevator to the main lobby, and then take a lobby elevator to the 20^th floor board room of UniSource Energy Corporation.

The grant awards will be presented by Paul Bonavia, Chairman, President and CEO of TEP and UniSource Energy. Representatives from recipient organizations and grant committee members will be available to media at the reception.

Members of the news media are also invited to contact representatives from recipient organizations for more details about how grant funds will be used.

Contacts:

Tucson Electric Power, Tucson
Sharon Foltz, 520-850-5760